Wayward Son
by Fanofeverything101
Summary: After Karen revealed that Anne and Lexi were still alive and released them, she left the 2nd Mass, telling Tom that her door will always be open. Two weeks later, they were all attacked, separated and put into ghettos. As Tom struggles to get free and reunite his family, he finds that Hal is still missing.
1. Separated

**Disclaimer** – I don't own anything.

**To scienceficfan24** – Hey! Thanks for your review on Missing Scenes! I'm very glad to be back and I'm so glad you like my other stories so much! I hope you like this one as well!

**AN** – So, this fic came to me a while ago when I started thinking, what if Karen didn't die in season 3 and was alive in season 4. This story probably will have some similarities with my other story Will to Survive, but it's not exactly like it and I will try to keep it original. Please review and

**Enjoy!**

In the dark of the night, the citizens of Charleston walked down a dirt road through the trees away from the city. After destroying the tower in Boston and letting the rest of the Volm onto earth, the humans fighting the Espheni for their planet came to a harsh discovery. The Volm were not planning on fighting with them. In fact, they wanted to do all the fighting and viewed that their help was not at all needed and wanted to relocate them to Brazil away from the war.

With Cochise's help, they managed to get away from the city and his species who wanted to move them before that could happen. Now, though it was late in the night, probably passed midnight, the group continued walking, trying to put as much distance as they could the Volm. Ben was in the front, making sure the way was clear of any Espheni, Tom and Matt were close behind him, and further back was Hal with Maggie, who was been looking over at him consistently once they had left the city.

"What?" Hal finally asked, wanting to know why she kept glancing over at him and why she was smiling.

"Just the smell of fresh pine. It's good to get out city. It gets my blood flowing." Maggie responded light-heartedly. While it was nice to hear Maggie's happy tone, Hal knew what the real reason was, and it wasn't the smell of the outdoors. Or at least, not just that.

"It's not the mountain air. It's the fact that you think the war is going to go on." Hal said, his own voice a little hard.

"You think you want it to end, but trust me Hal. You wouldn't cut it in a split-level house. Spending your weekend trimming hedges and weeding flowerbeds. You'd go stark raving mad." Maggie told him, voice full of confidence. Hal was thinking of his reply when Pope came up behind them.

"She's right kid. Compared to the quiet desperation of the suburbs, I'd say an alien apocalypse is paradise on Earth." The criminal cut into their conversation, and again, Hal had to resist the urge to punch the man in the face.

It didn't take much from Pope for anyone to get annoyed or angry with him. The man could rile up anyone he met within minutes of meeting them with his sarcastic comments and insults, but that wasn't why he was getting on Hal's nerves. It was the fact that Pope not only butted into a conversation he wasn't welcome in, it was the fact that both him and Maggie seemed to think that his desire for the war to end was ridiculous and were somewhat teasing him about it.

While he agreed, the idea of living in a split level house doing gardening did seem ridiculous, it wasn't what he meant when he was talking to Maggie about life after the war. He just wanted everything to go back to the way it was. He wanted to go to sleep without worrying about being attacked in the middle of the night, wanted to live without fear of skitters attacking and kidnapping his brothers. What was so crazy about that?

"Wait." Ben suddenly said as he stopped. Hal, Maggie, and Tom all quickly ran over to his side the second they heard him.

"What do you got?" Hal questioned once he reached his younger brother's side.

"Not sure. Something big coming this way." Ben answered, looking at his father and older brother. On the other side and further down the road, Lourdes started shaking and dropped to the ground. Weaver, who was just behind her, got to the ground to see what was happening to her.

"Dad!" Matt shouted from the other side of the group. Tom rushed over to his youngest and saw Lourdes shaking on the road, painful and loud grunts escaping from her lips.

"Ship inbound!" Ben yelled, pointing at the night sky. Everyone looked up to see the bright lights of an Espheni spaceship coming right at them. Those who had weapons raised them instinctively, even when the ship landed in the trees at least a mile away.

"Karen took the bait. It worked." Tom said to Weaver once they both got back to Ben in the front of the group.

"I just hope it's her." Weaver told him. If it wasn't, then they had no idea what to expect. Odds were, it was going to be a fight, or maybe another Espheni sales pitch, but after what they just did to their tower in Boston, Weaver highly doubted it.

"It's her." Tom affirmed, even though he had no proof. He could feel it in his gut that Karen was in that ship.

"Hal, Ben, Maggie." Tom called the three over to him while Weaver turned to the rest of the group.

"Stand two. Take cover! Let's go!" The Colonel ordered. Immediately, the group started moving away to safe place while Weaver, Tom, Hal, Maggie, and Ben started walking towards the trees in the direction of the spaceship.

The group of 5 slowly came closer the edge of the forest that was near the road they were on, hearing the loud stomps of a Mech coming their way. Before they could get any further, Karen emerged from the right side of the trees surrounded by a few skitters and one Mega-Mech. In her hand, she carried a stick with a white cloth tied to the top end, signifying that she wanted this to be a peaceful meeting. When she saw them, she slowed her stride.

"Tom. Hal." Karen spoke, looking only at the two oldest Masons before glancing at the others, then said, "We need to talk."

"Thank goodness you're okay Hal. I've missed you." Karen spoke directly to Hal, ignoring the others for a moment. Though her voice sounded sincere, no one believed it for a moment.

"Yeah, I've been looking forward to seeing you too." Hal replied, his tone making it clear that his reasons for wanting to see her were no where near the same as hers.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you!" Tom yelled, getting her focus away from his oldest son.

"Easy Tom." Karen tried to calm him before finishing, "This is far more important than our personal differences. It's about the Volm."

"Get to the point." Tom told her, quickly growing bored and annoyed with this conversation when his instincts were telling him to just kill her and end this. Slowly, Karen started walking closer to the group, her skitters and Mech moving with her.

"I see things haven't turned out the way you planned. You and your beloved allies have parted ways. Not the knights in shining armour you thought they were, right?" Karen questioned, still moving closer to them.

"That's far enough." Tom said instead of answering her questions. There was no way he wanted her to know that she was right. Karen instantly stopped in her tracks, clearly not wanting to make the resistant fighters any more uncomfortable than they already were. She could see that they were struggling not to shoot her and the aliens with her.

"I'd say you've become an expert on disappointment. In fact, I think the only reason you want to talk is the Volm have you on the run." Tom changed the subject back on her, a slight smugness in his voice.

"You don't trust me. I would feel the same if I were in your shoes. I could tell you I've made some mistakes," Karen glanced at Hal again when she said the before looking back and Tom and continuing, "that I regret the way I've gone about some things, but those would just seem like empty words to you."

"You got that right." Tom confirmed, clutching his gun tightly in hands, wondering why he was still listening to her. There was nothing she could say or do that would make up for everything she had done, that would make him even consider forgiving her for trying to kidnap Ben, for planting a bug in Hal, for killing Anne and Lexi.

"Which is why I didn't expect to reconcile our differences in one conversation. But I am confident there will be more unpleasant discoveries about the Volm. This war has gone on for centuries. And it will continue for a long time to come. And as you know from your own history, there might be a day when our interests will coincide. So, I want you to know my door will always be open." Karen finally finished her pitch, again looking over at Hal.

"You can't be serious." Hal told her, finding it completely absurd that his ex-girlfriend truly believed that after everything she had done to them, that they would actually work with her.

"I am." Karen replied, smiling at him before turning back to Tom, adding, "And to prove my good faith, I've brought a gift. One that I think you'll appreciate Tom."

Tom was about to tell her there was nothing she could do to prove her 'good faith', when he saw a human figure emerge from the trees when Karen and the skitters had come from just moments before. Though it was dark out, the lights from the Mega-Mech illuminated the clearing enough to see and recognize the woman who had appeared.

"Anne?" Tom whispered her name quietly as he slowly lowered his gun. Anne immediately ran over to him, throwing her arms around the former history professor who instinctively wrapped his arms around her in return. Feeling that the woman he loved was in his arms, he tightened his hold on her, feeling tears prickling the corners of his eyes.

"Wait, where's Lexi?" Tom suddenly remembered, pulling away from Anne just enough so he could look at her face but still hold her. Anne turned her head to look over her shoulder and when Tom raised his eyes to where the doctor was looking at, he saw a young girl, maybe about 6 years old slowly coming over to them.

"Hi Daddy." The little girl said with a smile. Tom stared in shock as Anne pulled away once the child reached him so she could wrap her small arms around his waist. Despite the fact that she appeared a lot older than he last saw her, then she actually was, Tom recognized her. He knew this child hugging him was indeed his daughter. Tom placed one arm around Lexi's shoulders, the other staying around Anne.

"When you realize that the Volm are not all they appear to be, my door will be open. Until then, goodbye Tom." Karen didn't wait for a response before she turned around and started walking back to her spaceship still hidden in the trees.

Maggie however, had other ideas. For so long, she had been waiting for the opportunity get payback for everything that Karen had done to them. Even if she didn't actually kill Anne and Lexi and did release them, she knew that there was no way the human-turned-alien would ever help them defeat the ones she had sided with. She was evil, there was nothing human in her. She had to be stopped and seeing the opportunity, Maggie raised her gun and pointed it at Karen's back.

Suddenly, there was hand on the barrel and pushing it down towards the ground. Maggie looked over to see that it was Hal who was forcing her to lower her gun. He didn't look at her though, not right at her anyways. His gaze kept going from Karen's to retreating figure and to his sister and Anne who were now surrounded by Weaver and Ben as well as his Dad. Because of this, Hal didn't see the shock, confusion, and betrayal in Maggie's eyes.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

When they met back up with the others, Tom and Weaver gave the order to start setting up camp. Though they only had a few hours until the sun would start rising, they decided to use them to give everyone a chance to rest. While the members of the group from Charleston did that, Tom talked to Anne about what all happened while she was with Karen. Unfortunately, Anne didn't remember much. Tom didn't mind that much though, he was just grateful that she and Lexi where alive. Soon, Anne fell asleep in one of the tents that had been set up and after watching her for a few minutes, Tom got up to let her rest peacefully.

"How's Anne?" Weaver asked once he saw Tom exiting the tent that the doctor was lying in.

"She's sleeping. I think she's okay, but she's been through a lot. She hasn't said much about what all happened." Tom reported to Weaver as they walked away from the tent.

"Well, the important thing is that she and Lexi are okay." Weaver replied, clapping Tom on the back.

"Yeah." Tom agreed, then suddenly started looking around. The last time he had seen his daughter was when he and Anne went inside the tent, and now had no idea where she was. He had assumed that she was waiting just outside, but wasn't there. A surge of panic shot through him before he spotted Lexi heading towards the line of vehicles.

"Lexi? What are you doing?" Tom asked loudly so the young girl would hear him. Lexi however didn't answer. Whether it was because she didn't hear him, or she didn't care, they didn't know. The adults did realize though that she was walking right towards the truck that had the makeshift cage where Lourdes was currently in.

"No Lexi, get away from there." Tom ordered as he started running towards his daughter, Weaver right on his heels. After just getting his daughter and Anne back, the last thing he wanted was Lourdes to hurt her or infect her with the eyebugs that were still trapped inside of her.

Once they reached the young girl, who was actually only a few months old despite her 6-year-old appearance, they saw that she was holding her hand out against the cage, her hand wide open. Before Tom could pull Lexi away, Lourdes started shaking again, and the bugs crawling all over her face started flying towards Lexi, landing on her palm. When they were all gone, Tom's daughter closed her hand tightly into a fist before opening again, a small pile of dust there instead of the bugs. Letting the dust fall onto the ground, Lexi looked up at her father with a small smile while Tom stared in a horror-filled shock.

"What on Earth?" Weaver exclaimed, just as stunned as his friend was. What became clear to the two in that moment, was that whatever Karen did to the little girl had far more effects than they previously thought, and neither were sure if that was good or not.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

_Two weeks later…_

For the next several days, the entire group from Charleston, dubbed as the 2nd Mass yet again, walked around the forest that surrounded the city they had evacuated. The plan was to meet up there again once they were sure the Volm were gone and weren't going to 'relocate' them.

During those days, Lexi quickly managed to bond a bit with her older brothers, not that it was that hard. Despite the fact that she had been though so much already in her short life, she still had the innocence and joy of a child that had never seen war, pain, or the evil that filled their world. It made Hal, Ben, and Matt that much more protective of her. Lourdes also formed a sibling like bond with the little girl after she destroyed the alien eyebugs that she was infected with.

Hal and Maggie's relationship on the other hand seemed to be breaking at the seams. Ever since that night where Anne and Lexi rejoined the group, they barely talked. Hal would try but it quickly became clear that Maggie had put her walls way up. Thinking that maybe she just needed some time, Hal backed off and by doing so, they became more distant. They took shifts opposite of each other and no longer slept in the same tent. Instead, Hal shared a tent with Matt while Maggie shared one with another female fighter. Everyone who was looking could see how distant the two formerly inseparable pair had become, but no one said anything.

"Hey." Hal greeted one morning when he found himself walking beside Maggie about two weeks after that night.

"Hey." Maggie greeted back, though a bit coldly, keeping her gaze straight ahead, not so much as even glancing in his direction.

"You ever really going to talk to me again?" Hal inquired, trying not to lose his patience and reveal how frustrated he was feeling with the way Maggie had been acting around him for the last two weeks.

"We're talking now, aren't we?" Maggie pointed out, not meeting his eyes.

"Look, Maggie, I get that you're mad at me, but, what did you expect me to do?" Hal wondered, deciding to cut right to the chase. He knew Maggie was upset that he made her lower her gun when she had a chance to kill Karen, and while he could understand why, after she revealed that Anne and Lexi were still alive and released them, Hal thought for a moment, he saw something good in her. If they were going to kill, he wanted to make sure that there was nothing good left.

"I don't know, make sure that Karen paid for everything's she done?" Maggie suggested, sounding more and more upset with every word she said, turning around to face him, stopping both of them in their tracks.

"It's not that simple." Hal argued, taking a deep breath in an attempt to keep himself calm.

"Really? She kidnapped your Dad, and Ben. Then tried to kill us all, twice. After that, she put a bug in you, several in Lourdes and had several of our members killed, kidnapped Anne and Lexi and let us all think that they were dead, and you think she should still be allowed to breathe?" Maggie was more than happy to point out how much damage and pain Karen had caused them.

"Maggie, if there's still a chance that we can save her…" Hal broke off, not exactly sure how to finish his sentence with upsetting Maggie even further.

"Seriously? You still think after everything that you can save her?" Maggie questioned even though she already knew what Hal's answer would be, as he looked down at the ground. Taking a step closer to her boyfriend, she said quietly and strongly, "Hal, open your eyes. She's beyond saving."

"Maybe, maybe not." Hal responded, looking back up at the woman. Seeing the furious look in her eyes slowly turning to one of betrayal, Hal put his hand on her shoulder.

"Maggie," Hal started only for Maggie to shrug off his hand and take a step away from him.

"Just go Hal." Maggie told him, looking down at the ground.

"Fine." Hal muttered and started walking away from her and towards the front of the convoy. Seeing his Dad up there along with Anne, Lexi, and Matt around there, he headed in their direction.

"Everything okay?" Tom asked, seeing the angry and frustrated expression on his eldest's face as Hal came over to him.

"Yeah, everything's terrific." Hal replied sarcastically, staring straight ahead instead of looking at his father. Tom didn't say anything, knowing that Hal wasn't actually going to say what was really going on with him. The father was about to say something to take Hal's mind off whatever was bugging him when a loud screeching filled the air. Everyone looked up to see several beamers coming straight at them.

"Run!" Tom yelled even though the entire group was already beginning to scatter. Most were running for cover in the trees or behind the vehicles while others were shooting up at the beamers.

The bullets didn't seem to do any damage to the ships. But when some fighters managed to get onto the trucks that were holding the machine guns, a few of the alien aircrafts were destroyed. The others didn't flee though. Instead, they started dropping objects on to the ground. Some started exploding while others released a large green, fence like structure.

Somehow, they knew they were being rounded up and everyone started running for cover away from the beamers. Tom was doing the same while shooting at the beamers and looking for his family at the same time. He was so focused on trying to spot his sons, daughter, and Anne that he didn't see one of the objects drop from a beamer and explode right near him. The explosion sent him flying through the air before landing painfully on his back.

"Dad!" Tom tried to lift his head when he heard Hal call out his name, but didn't have the strength. He thought he saw Hal suddenly leaning over him, but then everything went black and silent.

**AN** – Yes, when I am back, that does mean my evil cliffhangers are back too. Sorry, we are a packaged deal. Also, there is a chance going forward, that the character may seem a bit OOC, and if it does, I'm sorry. But also, bear in mind I am putting these characters in a position that they have never been before, and therefore, we have no idea how exactly they would react. Hope you guys liked this chapter. See you next time!


	2. Four Months Later

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! You're welcome! Even though the show did end awhile ago, it's still one of my favourites (I really need to rewatch it) and I am in no way planning on abandoning this fic. I've been working on it for over a year and have it all planned out so don't worry. I'm glad you still love my other stories, specifically Will to Survive so much! I hope this one will be as good as the others, I'm doing my best to make sure it is. Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – I feel like I should mention, that though this story is different than the actual show, there will be some plotlines from the show that will take place during this story. Not going to tell you all which ones because I live for tension and cliffhangers, as anyone who's read my other stories well know. Sorry, just my nature. Here is chapter 2. Please review and

**Enjoy!**

Weaver waited outside of the rundown building for Tom Mason to come out. It was late at night, so everyone in the ghetto was technically supposed to be asleep, or at least, indoors as it was past curfew, but Weaver knew for a fact that no one was. Because tonight, they were escaping.

When the Espheni attacked their convoy as they headed back to Charleston, the 2nd Mass was separated. Those who were trapped in the fence the aliens dropped around them were placed in the ghetto. And since the aliens knew how much trouble Tom Mason could be when he wanted to, he was placed in solitary confinement while the rest, which included Weaver and Pope, were allowed to go anywhere in the camp. It didn't take long though for Tom to find a way out and make a plan to escape.

"You ready for this Tom?" Weaver asked once Tom finally came out of the back door and headed over to him.

"After four months of being trapped in this place, I'm more than ready. Is Pope ready?" Tom wondered, knowing that if the former criminal couldn't complete his part of taking down the fence, none of their plan would work, at all.

"Yup. He was getting into that metal suit Dingaan made when I left, and everyone else is grouped together in the building closest to the fence, ready to run the minute it goes down." Weaver informed him as they started walking towards the building were everyone was gathered, looking around to make sure that they weren't being seen by the spotlights coming from the spaceship above the ghetto.

While Tom had been doing his best of coming up with an escape plan, it wasn't until they met Dingaan that the plan became possible. He was a mechanic of some sort and had actually escaped the Espheni ghettos before. Apparently the aliens were putting them up everywhere. Using his expertise, Dingaan created a metal suit that would whoever was wearing it to climb over the fence without being obliterated. With his help, they would finally be able to leave.

"Good. Cochise is meeting us a mile away in the forest and we will go from there. Hopefully, he will know where the rest of our group is." Tom replied, also keeping watch to make sure they weren't seen.

"You mean your family?" Weaver asked. When they were put in the ghetto, it was a bit chaotic for the first few days due to the fear of not knowing where they were or what was going on, and everyone searching for their family members and friends. However, Tom was unable to find his children or Anne, and Weaver couldn't find his daughter either.

"Yeah." Tom admitted. While he did want to reunite those all still fighting the Espheni so they could once again become strong enough to fight them, he wanted to find his family more. He hadn't seen them since they were attacked four months ago, had no idea where they were or it they were okay.

"I'm sure wherever they are Tom, they're alright." Weaver tried to assure him.

"I hope so. And I'm sure Jeanne is okay too." Tom responded, knowing that it wasn't just his children who were missing.

"We'd better get going. Chaos is about to ensue and we don't want to be in the line of fire when it does." Weaver told him, picking up his pace a little so they could get to the rendezvous faster.

"No kidding." Tom quickly agreed, moving faster so he was keeping up with his friend.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Matt sat on the edge of his bed in the small room. The room was dark as there was no lights, and only one, small window, which didn't help much as it was nighttime right now. There was on one else in the room, so it was extremely quiet. Everyone else in the Espheni re-education was fast asleep, but Matt couldn't sleep. His mind was racing through everything that had happened over the last four months.

First, they all had to leave Charleston. Then Anne and Lexi turned out to still be alive. Matt was really happy about that, though the fact that Lexi had somehow grew into a 6-year-old in only a month freaked him out a little. But everything went downhill when the aliens attacked them before they got back to the city. He was separated from his family almost immediately and brought to a camp full of other kids.

It didn't take long for Matt to realize exactly what kind of place it was. A brainwashing camp. That became clear the minute the only adults in the place started talking about how great the skitters were and that they wanted to live in harmony. Matt knew enough about history thanks to his father to know it wasn't the first time that something like this had happened, though the ones fighting were all humans, there was no alien involvement, but he would've thought that with everything that aliens had done, that it wouldn't work, that none of the kids would be so easily manipulated and tricked. He was proven wrong fairly quickly.

It was why they had to escape, he, and the other kids. Just recently, a girl, Sheila, turned her parents in to the skitters. Matt knew that they had to get out soon and they were getting ready to, when Mira, in haste to get out, stole a wire cutter and got caught. Not wanting her to get in trouble as he knew how much she had been struggling in the camp, Matt took the fall, which is what got him in this dark room, all alone on the edge of the camp.

Matt looked up at the window, seeing only a few stars shining in the night sky. He wondered where his Dad and brothers were, as well as Anne and Lexi. He remembered seeing his Dad and Hal trapped in the fence that had been dropped by the beamers, but had no idea where they were or if they managed to escape. And he had absolutely no idea what happened his other brother and sister. As the youngest Mason son laid down on the bed, finally feeling tired enough to fall asleep, he prayed that wherever they were, they were alright.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Anne was quick in cleaning the syringe and getting it ready for use. Her daughter Lexi, sat on the examination table a few feet away from her, though you wouldn't know who it was just by looking at her. Even though her daughter was almost only a year old, she looked like she was 20, and her dark brown hair was such a pale blonde that it was nearly white.

After the convoy of Charleston residents were attacked by the aliens, those who escaped gathered in the forest outside of the city. They stayed there for days, searching and waiting for others who might've escaped, before heading out, deciding that it would be better to find a new place stay as Charleston was too well known and not as protected as it was before.

They ended up in Chinatown in Savannah, Georgia. Also thinking that it would be better to keep their heads low for now as they were in no position to protect themselves from another attack, much less launch one of their own. Only two months later though, Lexi became really sick. She couldn't eat or she'd throw up, had severe muscle spasms and cramps all over which were very painful, and had a really high fever. By the time the sickness passed, she had grown into the body of a young adult.

"Ow." Lexi complained as she felt the needle dig into his skin, looking down to see the syringe fill with some of her blood.

"Sorry sweetie." Anne apologized, quickly finishing getting the sample she needed before she pulled the needle out of her daughter's arm and placed it on the tray.

"I don't see why we still have to do this Mom. I know that you, Lourdes, and Dr. Kadar are just trying to make sure that I'm okay despite," Lexi paused, looking down at herself before continuing, "everything. But do we have to do this every day?"

When Lexi finally got better from whatever sickness she had which caused her to age, or the sickness caused by her aging, Kadar, Lourdes, and her Mom had all freaked out to certain degrees. Worried about her state of health and whether or not she would age again, the three doctors had her coming to the infirmary to let them run several tests to make sure she was okay, to figure out what was causing her growth sprouts and to see if there was a way to stop it. Though Lexi understood why her Mom, Kadar, and Lourdes did it, she was beginning to feel like a specimen being studied for science.

Anne let out a small sigh, then "We still have no idea what has been causing your growth spurts Lexi, nor do we know if you're going to have another and when it could happen. We just want to make sure that you're healthy. You know that, right?"

"I know." Lexi answered, looking down at the ground, feeling slightly ashamed for her mild outburst. She knew she had to keep her temper under control. One time, a member of the group made a rude remark at her, and she accidentally broke a window without even touching it. That was another reason why they wanted to run their tests. They had no idea what she could now with her Espheni DNA.

"I love you sweetie." Anne said, seeing the dejected look on her daughter's face.

"I love you too Mom." Lexi responded, looking up at her mother again. Anne smiled and pulled her daughter into her arms. Lexi quickly returned the embrace for a moment, before they both pulled away and Lexi headed outside, moving towards one of the gardens for some peace and quiet. It was there she found her older brother Ben, sitting on the bench by the small pond.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Ben asked, seeing his sister coming towards him.

"Just like always." Lexi replied before adding, "I know that everyone's concerned, but I think they are taking this a little too seriously. I feel fine."

"Maybe, but you sure don't look like someone who's less than a year old." Ben stated. It was weird enough when Anne and Lexi first joined up with the 2nd Mass again and Lexi looked to be 6-year-old. When she had her next growth sprout, which made her appear like a 20-year-old, it freaked everyone out.

"I'm well aware of that Ben." Lexi told him with a slightly sarcastic tone. Ben gave her a small grin and looked away from his little sister.

"Are they back yet?" Lexi changed the subject when she saw Ben looking over at the large gate that they had made to block one of the roads in case the aliens did attack them.

Even though they waited in the forest after the attack for as long as they felt was safe, no other person with the surname Mason, arrived. There was no sign of their Dad, or Hal, or Matt. Ben actually went out to search the area before they started leaving to see if he could find their family members, but came back alone.

When they got to Chinatown, after the fortified it a little, they would send out scavenger parties to look for more weapons and food as well as searching for any people out there. Every time they did, Ben would make sure he was outside and watch to see if his Dad or brothers had arrived, when he wasn't part of the team going out that is.

"Nope, but they be soon." Ben said, then stopped when he saw the gate being opened, "Oh, there they are."

The two Masons immediately headed over to where the scouting/scavenging group was coming back into the camp. Today, it was Maggie, Anthony, and Deni.

"Hey Maggie." Ben greeted his brother's girlfriend as he approached her.

"Hey." Maggie replied back, a bit distractedly. Every single time she went out, she kept her eyes peeled for Hal, but again, there was no sign of him, just like there hadn't been for the last four months. She was beginning to get discouraged.

"You guys find anything?" Ben asked, looking past the three of them to see if there was anyone following them. He felt the sting of disappointment when those on guard began to close the gate.

"Some more medical supplies and food, but no sign of your Dad, or Hal, or Matt, or anyone else." Maggie reported, her facial expression revealing that she was just disappointed and discouraged as he was.

"We should just go out and find them." Ben told them, his voice filled with frustration and anger.

"Ben, I know you want to find our Dad and brothers, but it isn't safe out there. And we have no idea where they are." Lexi broke in, trying to calm her brother down.

"They've been missing for four months. We have to find them." Ben insisted. Everyday he woke up wondering if today would be the day his family would be reunited, and during the day, he would wonder if they were okay, if they were even alive and everytime he went to sleep, it was to the hope that they would come tomorrow. He couldn't keep doing it anymore.

"We will, as soon as we figure out how." Maggie promised, knowing exactly how he was feeling, as she had come to see the entire Mason family as her own, growing very close to them while they were in Chinatown.

"Who knows, maybe they will find us." Lexi suggested.

"Yeah, maybe." Ben replied, though he didn't feel any better. Knowing there wasn't anything else she could do, Maggie headed over to the infirmary to drop off the medical supplies she had in her bag, leaving the two siblings alone.

"I'm sure they're okay Ben." Lexi comforted, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ben nodded, then wrapped his arm around her and together, they headed back further into the camp.


	3. Two Escapes

**Disclaimer** – I own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you are liking the story and don't worry, this story is here to stay. Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – And I'm back and I brought chapter 3 with me! Just a warning though, as a lot of what happens in this chapter happens in the actual show, it is skimmed over a little. Don't worry, once we get more to the part where it splits from the show and becomes AU, there will, hopefully be more detailed.

**Enjoy!**

The escape from the ghetto went off without a hitch. They knew the minute the fence went down that Pope had been successful, and all residents in the prison ran as fast as they could out of building and towards the forest. They went so fast that the aliens didn't even have time to figure out what they were running.

After running for as long as possible, then walking for a bit longer and still having no skitters or mechs on their tail, Weaver said, "I think we're clear."

"Good." Tom stated, looking back to make sure that they really weren't being followed. Luckily, he saw nothing.

"So, where to now Professor?" Pope wondered, panting slightly from lack of breath when he saw Tom was looking back at them. He had rejoined the group the minute he had gotten the fence down, after he had gotten the metal suit off. There was no way he could've been running with that thing on, obviously.

"Further into the forest. Cochise is going to meet us there. Hopefully he'll have located the rest of the 2nd Mass." Tom answered, turning back around to continue leading the group through the trees.

"And if he hasn't?" Pope questioned. He had never trusted the Volm, and when they decided that they should be moved to Brazil and keep them out of the fight and ended their alliance, he trusted them even less.

"Then, we'll just continue making our way away from here until we figure out exactly where we are and find a safe place to go." Tom replied, trying to keep his patience as he knew where Pope was going with his questions.

"Always filled with brilliant plans, aren't you Mason?" Pope commented sarcastically.

"You got a better one Pope?" Tom wondered. When the criminal kept his mouth shut, Tom said, "Didn't think so."

Without another word of question or debate, Tom started leading the group towards the clearing he and Cochise had planned to meet days earlier.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

They traveled for hours, covering as much space as possible and as fast as possible. Fortunately for them, there had been no Espheni attacks, meaning they either didn't have the resources to track them back down or they had no idea where their prisoners had gone. No one really cared though. They were just happy to be free and were desperate to keep it that way.

The sun was rising by the time they finally got to the clearing, where Cochise was waiting for them.

"Cochise, good to see you." Tom told his alien friend with a smile as he approached him with Weaver while everyone else sat down on the ground or broken down trees to take a break as they had been running/walking for miles.

"Good to see you as well Tom Mason, especially as you are now free." Cochise replied, in his somewhat monotone voice.

"Did you find anything?" Tom immediately asked once he was standing in front of the Volm.

"Indeed. We have located an Espheni re-education camp. Your youngest son, Matt, has been spotted there." Cochise revealed. Tom breathed a sigh of relief hearing that. His finally knew where his youngest son was, knew that he was okay. But, there were still four people in his family whose fates he had no knowledge of.

"What about the rest of our group from Charleston?" Tom then asked, needing to know if his alien friend had found the other members of his family.

"There are rumors of a gathering in a place called Chinatown, said to be safe from the Espheni. That is all we know so far." Cochise answered. Tom fell quiet for a moment, thinking over all the information he was just given, trying to come up with a new plan.

"Okay. Weaver, lead the group to Chinatown. I'm going after Matt." Tom decided, believing it to be the best plan. Their group needed to get to safety, but Tom needed to go get his son and he couldn't bring them with him.

"Tom, you shouldn't go alone." Weaver protested, knowing that breaking into an Espheni camp would be extremely dangerous.

"Someone needs to stay and lead the 2nd Mass." Tom pointed out. Weaver looked back at everyone who was with them, still sitting down and resting as much as they could before they had to get back up and keep moving.

"I'll be back so soon as I can." Tom assured his friend when Weaver looked back at him.

"Okay, just hurry." Weaver reluctantly agreed with the former history professor's plan.

"I will." Tom replied. Weaver nodded, then turned around and went back over to where the rest of escapees was while Tom turned back to Cochise, who was waiting patiently.

"Take me to this camp."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Since they had to walk to get to the camp, it took Tom and Cochise another long trip to get there. By the time they did, the sun had set. Even though Tom hadn't had any sleep in over 24 hours, he refused to wait to get some rest before sneaking through the fence into the camp when they arrived. If he had waited, it wouldn't be until the next evening before he'd be able to rescue his son. He refused to wait that long, he had already been waiting for four months and wasn't willing to wait anymore.

With Cochise's help, Tom managed to get through the fence before making his way to the buildings that were in the center of the camp alone. As quietly and quickly as possible, Tom entered the first building he came to and peaked in the rooms. Most were either empty or filled with desks. The others had several beds, most occupied. Those ones, he risked going inside to look for Matt, but never found him. He did the same for all the other buildings but still couldn't find his youngest.

It wasn't until he exited the last building he had checked that he heard something, it sound like yelling, but from a bit of distance away. Turning his gaze in the direction of the noise, he spotted another, much smaller, building at the far corner of the camp. Feeling deep in his gut that that was where Matt was, Tom took off running towards it, yanking the door open in time to see someone pushing his youngest son to the floor.

"Get away from my son!" Tom yelled, grabbing the person who attacked the young teenager before throwing him against the wall. He then proceeded to punch the man, who might've actually been an older teenager, across the face in anger before a small and familiar voice pulled him out of his anger filled haze.

"Dad?" Tom stopped, and looked over his shoulder, seeing Matt now standing up and staring at him in relief and slight disbelief. All pervious thoughts of hurting the person who attacked his son left Tom's mind in that moment and he let go of man/teenager and rushed over to Matt.

"Matt. Oh Matty." Tom called out as he pulled the boy into his tight embrace, which Matt immediately returned with relieved tears as his Dad whispered soothingly in his ear, "You're okay, you're okay."

"Are you hurt?" Tom asked as he pulled away, examining his son's face for any sign of an injury he could've easily received.

"No." Matt answered, shaking his head as he smiled at his Dad. After spending four months wondering where his family was or if they were even alive, his Dad had finally found him, had come to save him.

"Good, good." Tom replied, smiling back at him. He ran his hand through Matt's now, short, hair, the joy and relief that his son was safe taking over him for a moment before he remembered that they still had to get out of the camp without getting caught.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Tom didn't need to tell Matt twice. Holding his Dad's hand tightly, Matt followed at his heels as they made their way out of the camp carefully so they wouldn't be seen.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Cochise was waiting out of sight where Tom had left him on the other side of the fence. With the alien's help, the two Masons quickly got through, successfully escaping the re-education camp.

"Tom Mason, I see you have successfully recovered your son." Cochise stated the obvious before turning to face Matt, saying, "It is good to see you safe Matt Mason."

"Thanks Cochise. Good to see you too." Matt said, giving the alien a small grin before the Volm looked back over to his Dad.

"We must get moving. Colonel Weaver and the group from the ghetto will be miles ahead of us by now." Cochise informed Tom. He nodded, telling Cochise that he heard him before looking back down at Matt.

"You okay to keep moving until we meet up with them?" Tom asked, letting go of Matt's hand so he could wrap his arm around the boy's shoulders. Tom had no idea if Matt was strong enough to make that long a trip at the moment, as he didn't know if his son had any rest, or was underfed in anyway.

Matt though was so relieved, and adrenaline-filled from getting out of the camp that he felt he could walk all the way across the world, so he said, "Yeah, I'm good."

"Okay, let's go." Still keeping his arm around Matt, knowing his wasn't going to letting his son out of arm's reach anytime soon, Tom and Matt followed Cochise away from the camp and towards Chinatown to meet up with Weaver, their group, and the rumored group already there.

**AN** – Like I said, this chapter is a bit skimmed over, simply because it was just so much like the show, I just didn't feel the need to get into much detail about it, especially since I know very little about season 4. I hope you all liked it though. I promise that as the story starts deviating from the show, more detail and action and all that fun stuff will come back. See you all next time!


	4. One Still Missing

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**AN** – And I'm back once again! Here is chapter 4.

**Enjoy!**

It was early, about two days after Maggie and her group's failed search party that something strange happened in Chinatown. At first, everything seemed normal, but as Maggie headed out of her room to go get some breakfast, she heard several voices coming from where the gate was to get into the camp. She started making her way over, to see what was going on, but all she could clearly see was that a crowd was beginning to gather by the gates.

"What's going on?" Maggie questioned as she came up behind Ben, who was standing off to the side, watching.

"I have no idea." Ben answered. Seeing that the gates were now being opened, Ben rushed over with Maggie right behind him.

"Anthony, what's happening?" Ben asked as Anthony, who was one of the people opening the gate.

"See for yourself." Anthony replied with a small grin. Ben and Maggie both backed up a little, so they were for sure out of the way for whatever or whoever was coming through. They were surprised though to see that it wasn't just one or two or even a small group. It was a large one and leading it, was none other than Colonel Weaver.

"Weaver!" Ben shouted in excitement when he saw the man who he viewed as part of his family. Weaver immediately saw him and came over.

"Ben! Maggie! Good to see you two!" Weaver exclaimed, giving Ben a quick hug before patting Maggie on the shoulder.

"Your Dad is going to be happy to see that you're alright." Weaver stated, looking back at Ben once more.

"He's with you?" Ben asked as he quickly started turning his head to look around at the group still coming into the camp for any sign of his father. There were so many people, at least over a hundred. His Dad could easily be lost somewhere in the crowd.

"Not at the moment. Cochise found out where Matt is, so he went to go get him. But once he's got your brother, he's making his way up here." Weaver explained. Ben sighed in relief knowing that his Dad and his little brother were alright and were on their way. That meant there was only one other family member whose location Ben didn't know.

"What about Hal?" Ben then questioned, again glancing over the group that had come in for any sign of his oldest brother. When he looked back at Weaver though, he saw a confused expression on the Colonel's face.

"I have no idea. He wasn't with us. None of us have seen him since we were attacked four months ago." Weaver answered. Ben and Maggie both stared the Colonel, neither knowing what to say. For the past four months, they had just assumed that both Matt and Hal were with Tom, they never thought about the possibility that the three of them would be split up.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that either he'll track us down, or we will. He'll be okay." Weaver assured them both when they didn't say anything. Neither looked very convinced, but before the Colonel could say anything else, a familiar voice called out, "Dad!"

Weaver turned his head to see his daughter Jeanne coming towards him. Thrilled to see that Jeanne was safe and was here, Weaver left Ben and Maggie to go hug his daughter.

"Weaver's right. Hal will be okay." Ben told Maggie once Weaver was gone.

"Yeah." Maggie mumbled, looking back to the gates that were now being closed as everyone in Weaver's group were in Chinatown. While she knew that Ben and Weaver were right, Hal was tough, there was a nagging voice inside her head that was insisting something else was going on.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Several hours after Weaver and his group arrived, Tector stood up high on top of a one-story building right by the closed gates of Chinatown, keeping watch for anyone or anything approaching the camp. It was almost supper time, the sun slowly descending from its spot in the sky. The sniper's shift was almost done and he was starting to count the minutes. It was then he spotted two figures approaching, one taller than the other. Just in case they were a threat, Tector lifted his rifle and pointed it in their direction.

"Who's there?" Tector questioned loudly so his voice was heard, keeping his rifle pointed at the tallest approaching figure.

"Don't shoot Tector, it's just us." The sniper immediately lowered the gun when he heard the person speak, easily recognizing the voice of the former President of Charleston.

"Open the gate!" Tector ordered before climbing down from his perch. By the time he got down, the gate doors were open and Tom was inside the camp with Matt, who Tector recognized now that he was much closer and more visible.

"Welcome back Tom Mason." Tector said, clapping Tom on the back as he entered Chinatown before doing the same to Matt.

"Dad!" Tom turned his head to see his middle son running towards him and he in return shouted, "Ben!"

With a wide smile, Tom opened his arms, immediately embracing Ben as soon as he was close enough. The blonde was quick to return the hug. After a minute, Tom pulled away and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ben answered as his Dad ran one of his hands through the teenager's hair while Matt came over and hugged his older brother. Before Tom could say anything else, another voice shouted his name, a woman's voice. He turned around to see the doctor who he had started a relationship with over a year ago, the mother of his daughter, coming towards him.

"Anne!" Tom shouted as he rushed over to the doctor, his arms open. Anne, in return, opened her arms and immediately wrapped them around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. For a minute, the two just held each other, then Tom pulled away slightly so he could look her straight in the eyes as he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Anne assured him. Tom quickly pulled her closer once again, though this time he kissed her instead of hugging her. She eagerly returned the kiss just like she did with the hug.

"Where's Lexi?" Tom wondered once they both pulled away in order to catch their breath. Anne didn't say anything, but did change her gaze from looking into his eyes to looking over his shoulder. Tom turned his head to see what Anne was looking at, and saw a young woman with pale, blonde hair wearing a white dress standing behind him. Despite her age, Tom quickly recognized the young woman.

"Hi Dad." Lexi said with a smile as she started walking towards him. Mesmerized by the fact that his barely one-year-old daughter now appeared to be 20, and also happy that she was safe and they were together, the father simply fully turned his body so he was facing Lexi, and opened his arms and hugged her as she hugged him back.

"You've grown." Tom stated, still somewhat in shock. Lexi giggled slightly, and Tom could feel her head nod against his chest before she pulled away, still smiling at him. The father looked over at Anne, hoping for an answer as to what had happened, but she shrugged her shoulders.

"Kadar and I are working on figuring it all out." Was the only explanation Anne gave. Tom wanted to push it, but saw from the look in her eyes that she would tell him more later.

"Anne!" Another voice broke in. The two adults and the young woman who looked much older than her actual age, turned their heads to see Matt running over to them, having finished his hug with Ben.

"Hi Matt." Anne greeted as Matt ran into her arms, holding on to her tightly like a child to their mother, which, Matt had started considering her as, ever since he found out that Anne was pregnant with Lexi. He pulled away though when he saw a familiar young woman standing by his Dad.

"Lexi?" Matt asked, not entirely sure if it was indeed his sister or not.

"Hi. It's good to see you." Lexi responded with a smile. Matt slowly grinned back, then went over to her and embraced her. Lexi seemed slightly surprised, but was quick to hug him back while the others watched, a little amused that the youngest Mason was almost two heads taller than her older brother.

"Is Hal here too?" Matt asked her once he pulled away, looking around for any sign of his oldest brother. Tom also turned his gaze to Anne, expecting an answer, but when he saw the doctor shaking her head and the crestfallen expression on her face, he knew it wasn't going to be the answer he wanted.

"No, he's not. The last time we saw him, was when were attacked. He got stuck in the fence, I saw him near you." Ben answered for Anne, looking up at his Dad as he said the last part.

"Then, he should've been with us." Tom stated, his brow furrowing as he thought deeply. None of this made sense. Matt, Ben, Anne, and Lexi weren't put in the ghetto because they weren't trapped in the fence. Everyone who was trapped was put in the ghetto, none of them had been separated, so logically, Hal should've been with them.

"But if he wasn't, where is he?" Matt asked, looking up at his Dad and Ben. Unfortunately, no one had an answer.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Later in the evening, Tom walked out of Chinatown towards the edge of the city of Savannah where he had planned to meet with Cochise once again. While they were making their way to the re-education camp to rescue Matt, they had somewhat come to an arrangement to be allies once again as the Volm were apparently, having a harder time fighting the Espheni and the humans needed help in regrouping as well. However, that was not what Tom was hoping to talk to his alien friend about right now.

"Cochise?" Tom called out, stopping in his tracks as he heard a very slight noise, the sound of footsteps on the ground that was coming nearer to his position.

"I am here Tom Mason." Tom heard Cochise speak just before he saw the large alien come from around the corner. Once he had come closer to the 2nd Mass leader, Cochise stopped and asked, "Have you reunited with your family?"

"Yes I have, mostly. But Hal isn't here. According to Ben, he was trapped in the fence the Espheni dropped on us four months ago, but he was never in the ghetto." Tom filled Cochise in on everything he had found and discovered since he and the alien had parted ways earlier that day.

"Well, the Espheni have been building 'ghettos' as you call them, all over the country. It is possible your eldest ended up in one of those." Cochise informed him.

"Why would they separate us though?" Tom wondered, hoping that maybe the Volm had an idea.

"I have no answer for that. Perhaps they felt you would be less motivated to or less able to escape." Cochise suggested, but Tom shook his head.

"Being separated from my family only made me more motivated to get out." Tom informed him. Cochise didn't say anything for a moment as he lowered his head, clearly in deep thought. Then, he slowly raised his head to look at Tom again.

"There, is another possibility." Cochise spoke again, though a little more hesitant than before.

"And that is?" Tom prompted the alien to continue.

"Well, the Espheni dropped bombs and were firing at your convoy, were they not?"

"Yeah." Tom immediately confirmed, not at all sure what Cochise was trying to say.

"It is possible that your son may have been, caught in an explosion, or hit." The Volm told him very slowly, as though he was walking on ice. It took a moment for the human to realize what his alien friend was getting at and he instantly shook his head.

"No, no, he's not dead. I'd know." Tom responded, still shaking his head. The father refused to even consider the idea of his oldest son being dead. It wasn't possible to him, wasn't something to even consider.

"How?" Cochise wondered, actually sounding curious how the father could know that.

"I'd just know." Tom insisted before asking, "Do you think you could look and see if Hal is in another ghetto or if he's somewhere else?"

"I will see what I can do, but I cannot promise anything." Cochise replied after a moment of consideration.

"Thank you." Cochise didn't say anything to that. Instead, correctly assuming the conversation was over, the alien started walking away from Chinatown back to his ship. At least, Tom guessed that was where he was going.

The former history professor also started to head back to the camp, but as he glanced up at the sky, he saw a full moon shining down on him. He stopped in his tracks as an old memory came over him, how one night before Hal went to a summer camp, his Mom, Rebecca, told him that whenever he was lonely to look up at the moon, especially the full moon as the odds were that someone else in the family was looking up at it too.

"Oh Hal, wherever are, please be okay." Tom whispered to the moon, closing his eyes as he did. He waited for a minute, hoping for some sort of answer. When none came though, Tom lowered his head and started walking back to Chinatown, the moon lighting the path he was taking.

**AN** – Hope you guys liked this chapter. Next one will be up soon! See you then!


	5. The Search Begins

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you like this one too!

**To n'IthoughtIwascrazy** – Thanks for your review! I love this show so much too! Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – And I'm back with chapter 5! Hope you all like it though!

**Enjoy!**

For the next week, Tom and Weaver started planning offensive attacks on the aliens that had invaded their planet, though they couldn't do much as they had no idea what the Espheni were up to and where they were now. A lot had changed over the last four months. They were able to get some information from Ben and Maggie, who were the ones doing the majority of the patrols, and from Anne who had taken charge over their camp in Chinatown. It still wasn't much though.

At the end of the week though, Tom got out all the information that he had as well as all the attack plans he and Weaver had come up with while he waited for Cochise to arrive. The Volm had agreed to meet up with the 2nd Mass again today and begin finding a way to destroy the Espheni, or at the very least, get them off the planet. Tom though, was anxiously waiting for this day to come for a different reason. When Cochise arrived, he could find out if his alien ally had found out where Hal was.

Tom stared up at the clock on the wall in front of him, mentally counting the seconds until Cochise was expected to arrive. He was so focused on that, that he didn't even hear Anne enter the room.

"Tom, are you okay?" Anne questioned, seeing the worried look on former history professor's face, as she came into the room.

"Yeah, just checking the time." Tom replied before adding, "Cochise should be here soon."

Anne nodded, but didn't say anything else as she continued to study the father of her daughter. Over the last week, Tom had been looking forward to this day not because he and Cochise would start planning their attack on the Espheni now that they were allies with the Volm again, but because he wanted to know if Cochise had found Hal.

"What?" Tom asked the doctor once he realized that she was staring at him and apparently had been since she came into the room.

"Nothing." Anne said, but when she saw the look of disbelief on his face, she said, "I just think that maybe you should brace yourself, in case the news you get isn't what you are hoping for."

Tom stared at her for a minute, unsure of what to say. His fatherly instincts told him that Anne was wrong, that Cochise will have information about his eldest's location. He had to, Tom wasn't sure what he would do is Cochise didn't have any knowledge about where Hal was. But at the same time, he knew Anne was right. He was saved from responding through when there was a slight knock on the door and Ben poked his head into the room.

"Dad? Cochise is here." Tom's middle son informed him. The former history professor quickly got to his feet, intending to go meet the alien, but Ben opened the door further which revealed that Cochise was already in the building. Once the door was further opened, Cochise strode passed Ben and into the room.

"It's good to see you my friend." Tom greeted with a smile, coming closer to stand in front of the Volm.

"It is good to see you as well, and to you Anne Glass." Cochise said.

"Hi Cochise. It's good to see you too." Anne replied with a smile of her own before adding, "I'll let you two get to business."

Once both Anne and Ben were gone, Cochise turned to Tom and said, "I trust now that your group has been reunited, you will have started planning an offensive against the Espheni?"

"Yes, though our knowledge about them right now is fairly limited." Tom responded before quickly changing the subject to something more important to him at the moment, "But before we get into that, I have to ask. Have you found anything about Hal?"

"Unfortunately, I have not." Cochise informed his friend. Seeing the hopeful look drop from Tom's face before the human lowered his head caused a surge of regret in the alien's chest, and though he wished he could make that feeling go away and give his friend some positive news, he couldn't. Unless he wanted to lie and give the father false hope and information, that is.

"I shall keep looking though, if you wish." Cochise added, not at all liking the dejected expression on his friend's face.

"Thank you, I'd greatly appreciate that." Tom replied, extremely grateful that Cochise was willing to help him find his son. He was pretty sure that if it was any other Volm, they would've said no.

As Tom looked away from Cochise though, he spotted the papers and maps that filled the small table, just now remembering that there was more to this meeting than just getting information on Hal's whereabouts. Turning back to Cochise, Tom said, "Well, we better get to work."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

About two hours later, just before lunch, the meeting between Tom and Cochise was adjourned. Tom walked Cochise out to the gate, said goodbye, and waited until the gate doors closed behind the alien before he turned around and started walking further into the camp towards the kitchen area where the tables and chairs had been set up. At the table that would have the clearest line of sight to the gate sat Tom's youngest three children along with Anne, Maggie, and Weaver. Seeing the Mason patriarch coming towards him, Matt and Ben immediately let the table to rush over to him, followed by Lexi, Maggie, Anne, and Weaver.

"Did Cochise have any news about Hal?" Matt asked eagerly with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. As much as Tom wanted to be able to tell his youngest son that his older brother was okay and they were going to get him, Tom couldn't lie to his kids.

"No. He hasn't been able to find anything yet." Tom answered, causing the hope drain from Matt's face in disappointment and fear.

"This makes no sense. He should've been with you guys." Ben stated, turning around and taking a few steps away before turning again and walking back towards his family.

"I know." Tom replied, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. It was something they were all were already thinking and had agreed upon, and the fact that they still knew nothing about what had happened the last day they all saw Hal, why he was separated from the rest of them, and where he was now, was driving Tom crazy. He couldn't take it out on his other children though, or anybody else. It wasn't their fault and if he showed just how worried and scared he was for Hal, that would only make it worse for his other kids.

"Maybe I should ask the rebel skitters. If they still have some spies with the Overlords, they might be able to find out where he is." Ben suggested after a moment of deep thought. Though he hadn't seen them often anymore, since they went into hiding after the rest of the Volm arrived and the 2nd Mass left Charleston and were attacked when they were heading back, they could know more than the Volm did, especially if they still had their spies in place.

"Can you get in touch with them?" Tom questioned, just now realizing that he hadn't heard about the rebel skitters or seen them ever since the rest of the Volm arrived and they left Charleston.

"I haven't seen them around as much, but yeah, I could try." Ben answered with a nod, looking somewhat hopeful that he might finally be able to do something that would help find his missing brother.

"Okay, see what you can find out." Tom told his middle son, appearing more cautiously optimistic, though truly was just as desperately clinging to the hope that the rebel skitters might know where Hal is since the Volm hadn't found anything at all.

"I might be able to help too." Lexi broke in, effectively getting everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Tom wondered, not exactly sure what his only daughter was getting at. During the last week, Anne had filled him in on everything that had been going on with Lexi, about how they were trying to figure out what the Espheni DNA was doing with her and what she could all do because of it, but there was still so much they didn't know or understand.

"Because of my Espheni DNA, I might be able to connect with the Espheni like Ben." Lexi explained to the group as they all looked as confused as her Dad did.

"No, no way Lexi." Anne quickly protested. Though she understood the logic in her daughter's suggestion, the doctor had spent the last four months determined to keep Lexi safe from the Espheni, constantly battling the fear that one day, they would come and attack their camp and kidnap her daughter. She was not about to let her child leave the safety of the camp.

"You and Kadar keep saying you want to know what I can all do. This way, I could do both." Lexi pointed out. She understood that her Mom was very overprotective of her. Them being taken by Karen when she was still a baby and everything they went through while the human Overlord held them hostage had clearly taken a toll on her, but Lexi felt completely useless just being cooped up in Chinatown and she hated it.

"There is no way you are going out there with a bunch of skitters and Overlords. They might target you." Anne continued to object to her daughter's suggestion.

"Your Mom is right Lexi." Tom chimed in. Lexi looked over at her Dad, clearly upset that he was taking her Mom's side as he continued, "As much as I, and everyone else here wants to find out about your brother, we don't want you to be in any danger either."

"Okay. If you guys change your mind though, I'm more than happy to help. He's my brother too." Lexi reminded them. Though she was only with her family a few weeks before they were separated, she had still grown close to her half-brothers and felt quite protective over them, just like they were over her and it was starting to bug her that her family didn't seem to want her to help.

"We know Lexi." Anne told her with a sympathetic voice, coming over to her side, putting her hand on the young woman's shoulder. Her father also nodded, seeming to understand what was going through her head, but that didn't change her parents opinion. Only minutes later, Ben headed out of Chinatown to track down the rebel skitters, promising to be back before it got too late.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It wasn't until nearly ten at night that the gate to the 2nd Mass's camp in Chinatown opened once again as Ben returned from trying to find the leader of the rebel skitters, or any rebel skitters that were around. Despite how late it was though, Ben found his family along with the Colonel and Maggie were waiting for him.

"Dad! Ben's back!" Matt shouted to his father before running over to his older brother. Tom immediately ran after him with Anne, Lexi, Maggie, and Weaver all coming with him as they also heard Matt alerting them to Ben's return. As they reached the middle Mason son though, they knew from expression on his face that he didn't have the answer they all wanted to hear.

"They don't know anything, do they?" Tom said as Ben approached them.

"No." Ben replied as he reached his family, then added, "But they did say they'll keep their eyes open."

"What now?" Matt wondered, wanting to know if any of them had a plan for finding Hal and rescuing him from wherever he was.

"Now, we wait for news. But until then, we get some rest, we've got a lot of work to do in getting the Espheni off our planet." Tom replied. Though everyone looked a little upset that there wasn't more they could do, they knew the former history teacher was right. So, they all headed back to either their posts, or to their rooms to get some sleep as tomorrow was undoubtedly going to be a busy day.


	6. Out of Options

**Disclaimer** – I own nothing.

**Enjoy!**

Nearly two weeks later, Tom, along with about half the 2nd Mass soldiers were making their way back to Chinatown after destroying an Espheni outpost a few towns over. It wasn't a large outpost, and Tom was sure that destroying it wouldn't have much of an effect in the tide of the war, but every bit counted, and they weren't as strong as they were back in Charleston, not yet anyways.

It was late when they were nearly approaching the city. Hearing a loud yawn beside him, Tom took his eyes off the road to glance at his youngest son who was in the passenger seat beside him. They were the only two in the truck, as there was no room for anyone else. Tom hadn't been sure about bringing the boy who was barely a teenager on such a long mission, but Matt insisted on coming and he had done very well, though now he looked like he was about to pass out.

"You okay Matt?" Tom asked, looking over at Matt again as he wrapped his free arm around the boy's shoulders.

"Yeah, just tired. We almost home?" Matt wondered, his quiet voice full of exhaustion, his eyes constantly closing though he kept trying to keep them open.

"Yup, only about a mile and a half left to go." Tom answered, giving his young son a smile.

"Good." Matt replied gratefully. He was so tired. They had left on this mission two days ago and he was sure that he maybe, only got about eight hours of sleep. He knew others had gotten even less than that, so he didn't really have a right to complain, but they were more used to it than he was. It was a good thing they were in the cars and not walking. At least this way, he managed to get some sleep while on their way home.

Seeing that Matt was settled against him, Tom turned his attention back to the road in front of him. He was also tired and anxious to get home. Cochise was supposed to meet them there to continue planning more attacks, and with any luck, he'd now know where Hal is. The sooner they got back, the sooner he'd know. But at the moment, they heard the loud stomping of Mechs coming towards them, along with the sound of beamers overhead. Seconds later, gunfire started filling the air as the beamers and Mechs started to attack them. Skitters then also came out of the trees and charged them.

"Take cover!" Weaver shouted as everyone ran and tried to drive out of the way. The truck and Jeep that were leading the convoy were still out of the line of fire, so they continued driving away from the fight, though at a much faster speed while everyone else climbed out of their vehicles and started firing at the Mechs, skitters, and beamers.

Tom pulled Matt out of the truck, knowing that the beamers would be shooting at the vehicles which could and would cause an explosion. It was safer if they found cover somewhere else. Once they were out of the truck, Tom looked around for his other son who had been traveling in another truck, but he froze when he saw the danger the teenager was in.

"Ben!" Tom shouted when he saw a Mech focusing on his son's location. He quickly stood up, planning to run over to him, but Weaver pulled him back so he wouldn't get hit by the bullets that were flying from both sides of the fight.

The father was about to push the Colonel off of him, determined to rush over to Ben and protect him against the Mech, or at least, shoot the robot down before it could shoot his son, but as he looked over at Ben, he saw he didn't have to. Someone else had come up behind his middle son and pulled him out of the way just as the Mech fired. Tom tried to get a better look at the person who just saved Ben, but couldn't and not just because of the darkness and the chaos around them. The person was wearing a ski mask.

"Who the h*ll is that?" Tom asked no one in particular as he had a feeling that no one had seen the masked person before.

"No idea, but I think he's on our side." Weaver replied, also staring at the person who had just saved his friend's son.

When Ben heard his Dad shout his name, he looked over to see what was happening and why his Dad sounded so scared. Seeing the Mech pointing its weapon at him, Ben raised his gun and pulled the trigger, but no bullet came out. His gun was completely empty.

As panic and fear began to overwhelm him, he felt somebody grab his arm and pulled him out of the way just as the Mech fired, the bullet barely missed him. Before he really realized what was going on, the person who had grabbed him, pushed him down against one of the Jeeps for cover. As he tried to catch his breath, he looked up at the person who saved him, but to his surprise, the person was wearing a ski mask, the kind that only had holes for the eyes.

"Who are," Ben paused to take a deep breath before finishing, "you?"

The masked man, at least, Ben assumed the person was a man. He couldn't see any signs that it was a girl, but it was dark so it was possible the person was a girl. The person didn't say anything though. Instead he, or she, stood straight and started firing at the skitters and Mechs, killing and destroying several of them.

As the fight started to slow down, the 2nd Mass soldiers finishing off the Espheni attackers, the masked person looked back over at Ben, then turned and ran off, disappearing into the trees. The teenager stood up and was about to call after the stranger, but he, or she, was already gone.

"Ben!" The teenager turned around when he heard Matt yell his name and saw his younger brother running towards him. As Matt reached him, he threw his arms around Ben's waist and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Ben replied, instinctively returning the hug. He then raised his head and saw the Colonel and his father coming towards them, both looking worried.

"Did you guys see that guy?" Ben wondered, looking up at his Dad and Weaver, his arms still wrapped around Matt.

"Yeah, we saw him." Weaver answered as Matt finally let go of his older brother so Tom could give the teenager a hug as well.

"Who was that?" Ben questioned, pulling away from his Dad after a moment.

"I have no idea." Tom responded, looking over to where the masked man disappeared then turned his eyes back to Ben, looking him over again to make sure that he was indeed alright.

"Come on. We better get to Chinatown now. We'll be a lot safe there." Weaver spoke up, then started walking over to where the other soldiers were gathering to tell them to get the injured and dead in the vehicles and to continue heading to Chinatown.

"At least tell me you think that was really weird." Ben said to his Dad once Weaver was gone.

"A little. But right now, I'm too happy you're okay to question it." Tom replied, putting his hand on Ben's shoulder, then said, "Come on, let's get moving."

Slowly, the shock and adrenaline from the surprise attack wore off as everyone started helping the injured into the Jeeps and trucks in the front of the convoy before sending them off ahead so they would get help as soon as they could. The rest carefully brought the few dead into one of the trucks, luckily, only three had actually perished in the fight. Once that was done, the remaining soldiers climbed into the remaining vehicles and continued their trek to Chinatown.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

By the time the rest of the 2nd Mass soldiers reached Chinatown, word of what happened had already spread throughout the camp. There were more guards on duty, watching carefully from their spots on the roofs of the buildings in the camp and on top of the gate, and there were several people waiting in the courtyard for the soldiers to return. Anne, Lexi and Jeanne among them.

"Oh good, you're all okay." Anne said, breathing a sigh of relief as she and Lexi quickly made their way over to their family as Jeanne ran over to her Dad, hugging him tightly.

"We were worried when we heard the gunshots." Lexi told them as she hugged her brothers then moved to hug her father, and asked, "Are you all alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Tom answered, returning the hug as he did so. When he saw Cochise slowly walking towards them, he let go of his daughter and waited for the alien to come towards them.

"Cochise." The former history teacher greeted the Volm.

"Hello Tom Mason. It is good to see you have returned unharmed." Cochise said, coming over to them a little faster once he had been acknowledged.

"Only barely." Tom replied with a smile before asking the questioned burning in his mind, "Did you find anything about Hal?"

"I regret to inform you that I have not." Cochise answered, lowering his head a little, showing true regret that he hadn't found anything yet. Weaver slowly approached the group when he heard that, Jeanne right behind him.

"This doesn't make any sense. I thought you would've found something by now. You found out where Matt was within hours." Tom remembered, not at all hiding the desperation and frustration he was feeling at the lack of knowledge of his son's whereabouts.

"True, but that does not mean we can easily find anyone and anything we wish whenever we want too. It does not work like that. He could be anywhere, on another continent or even an Espheni ship. There is no way for us to look through every possibility. I will request that my comrades keep an eye out for your son, but I cannot make locating him a priority." Cochise told him.

Tom clenched his jaw in frustration, but didn't say anything. He understood where the Volm was coming from, and knew he couldn't ask the alien to make his son a priority when they were fighting a war for human survival, no matter how much he wanted to. However, if Cochise couldn't find his son, then where was he? And how was he going to find him?

"There is one thing I think you must consider Tom Mason." Cochise spoke up again, his tone sounding as though there was indeed something he wanted to say but wasn't sure if he should.

"And what's that?" Tom wondered, his tone nervous by what the Volm was about to say.

"That perhaps the reason we cannot find anything about your son, is because there is simply nothing to find. It is very possible he might have, perished, during the fight when the Espheni separated you all four months ago." Cochise suggested, his voice still filled with nervousness.

"No, he's not dead. I know he's not." Tom immediately protested, refusing to even acknowledge the possibility Hal was dead. The idea that his son was dead was impossible to the father, sure that if his oldest was indeed dead, he would somehow know, would've somehow felt something.

"I could go check with the skitters again. They might have found something by now." Ben chimed in, also not wanting to believe his older brother was dead.

"Yeah, go do that." Tom agreed, then addressed the rest of the group, "In the meantime, we have work to do."

Everyone nodded and began to head off back to work but before Tom could walk away back to his office with Cochise, but Weaver grabbed his arm to stop him. When the 2nd Mass leader turned to face him, Weaver said, "Why don't you go take a breather, Cochise and I can take of all of this."

"No, no I'm fine." Tom replied, then turned and continued to make his way to the office. Weaver still thought his friend should take a moment to calm down from his worry about Hal, and his worry about Ben as he was almost killed, but knew that there wasn't anything he could say to make him stop, so he simply followed the fellow leader towards the office with their Volm ally.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It was again, late at night when Ben finally approached the makeshift gates. He was walking slowly, feeling nothing but disappointment, dread, and fear. It took him longer than he thought to find the rebel skitters and when he did, he discovered that they hadn't found anything about Hal yet. Filled with fear for his older brother and dread for having to tell his Dad the bad news, he entered Chinatown, quickly spotting his family, the Colonel, and his brother's girlfriend waiting for him.

Tom sat at one of the tables in their outside cafeteria with Anne, Lexi, Matt, Maggie, and Weaver as they waited for Tom's middle son to return. Normally, given how late it was and the fact that not only had they just returned from destroying an Espheni base, but they had also been attacked by their alien enemies, he would've at least sent Matt to bed, but he insisted he stayed up until his brother returned.

"Ben's back." Matt announced when he saw his older brother coming through the gates. Everyone at the table immediately stood up and headed over the teenager who was already walking towards them.

"They still don't know anything Dad." Ben reported as he stopped to stand right in front of his father, siblings, Anne, Weaver, and Maggie.

Tom clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, looking like he was about to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he just walked away towards the building where they had set up office. He had moved so suddenly and fast that it took a minute for everyone to realize what was going on before they followed after him.

"What are you doing?" Anne asked once they finally caught up with Tom in the office, the group all crowding into the small room.

"I'm going to find out where Karen is, go there, get her to tell me where Hal is, and demand that she lets him go." Tom answered as he pulled out the map where he, Weaver, and Cochise had marked down the position of all of the known Espheni outposts and bases.

"That's your plan? Just go, find Karen, and demand that she lets Hal go?" Anne questioned, finding the idea completely ridiculous and hoping that Tom would soon see that too.

"She said that her door is always open." Tom quickly reminded them, looking up at them from the map.

"If our interests coincide. Whatever her reason is for separating Hal from the rest of us, I highly doubt she's just going to give him up without something in return." Weaver pointed out, getting worried that his friend was so desperate to save his son that he was no longer thinking clearly. It was understandable, but dangerous.

"Oh, I'm going to give her something in return." Tom revealed, pulling out his hand gun and something out of the desk drawer.

"What?" Ben asked, not sure what his father was talking about. As far as he knew, they didn't have anything to hold over the human Overlord. Well, maybe Lexi, but he knew there was no way his father would make a deal involving his daughter.

"Her life." Tom told the group as he slammed the clip of ammo into his gun. Though everyone still wasn't sure about the leader's plan, they all agreed that Karen was an enemy they needed to get rid of, and if they could save Hal while doing it, then they were in favour of his plan.

**AN** – I know nothing about guns, so if I made a mistake, I'm sorry. Hope you all liked this chapter and I'll see you all next time!


	7. Confirmed

**Disclaimer** – I own nothing.

**To scienceficfan** – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked this chapter! Though I have a feeling you will be mad at me when you've read this one. Sorry.

**AN** – Hey, I'm uploading this a day early because I am heading out of town to visit some friends for the weekend and won't be bringing my laptop. Next chapter will be up on Saturday like normal. Just a heads up, this chapter was really hard for me to write, it took me so much longer than I thought it would when I wrote it. By the time I was getting close to finishing it, I just wanted it done so I could move on to the next one, and because of that, it might be a little sloppy and rushed. Really sorry if it is. Hope you all like it though!

**Enjoy!**

Two days later, Tom in his and Anne's bedroom, packing his bag and checking how many bullets he had in his rifle and shotgun. Then, he tried to figure out how much extra ammo he should bring. After spending the majority of the last two days arguing about whether or not his plan was a good idea with his family and Weaver, he was more than ready to head off to find Karen and get his son back. All he was waiting for was his middle son to return from meeting with the rebel skitters once again, just to see if they have found anything.

Ben begged him to give the skitters more time, but Tom refused to wait any longer. After the torture he endured when he went with Karen and the Overlords almost two years ago, and the knowledge of Karen's almost obsession with his son, he was not willing to make Hal wait any longer for his Dad to rescue him. The father could only imagine what Hal might be going through at the hands of the aliens. Plus, he had the perfect opportunity.

Cochise's intel showed that Karen would be at the Espheni base in Atlanta, Georgia which was only a few hours away by now. He didn't however know how long though, which meant he had to move fast. If he wanted to find Karen and confront her, he had to do it now.

_Knock knock._

Tom looked up to see Anne coming into their bedroom. Knowing what the former history professor was about to ask, she said, "Ben's back."

The parent immediately stopped what he was doing, about to go out to find his middle son when Ben entered the room with Matt and Maggie. Not wasting a second, Tom asked, "Well?"

Dejectedly, Ben shook his head. He had been hoping and praying that the skitters would've found something, even though it had only been two days since he last asked, but they didn't. After his Dad made his decision and plan to find Karen and to confront her about Hal, Ben, along with Anne, Matt, and Weaver all tried to talk him out of it, thinking the idea was ridiculous and dangerous. But, his Dad didn't care. He was beyond desperate, and Ben didn't blame him.

He knew, as did pretty much everyone, that Karen had some sort of obsession with his big brother and though he didn't know exactly why the human Overlord would separate Hal from the rest of the 2nd Mass, he knew that it couldn't be good. He had hoped that it would take longer for his Dad to find out where Karen was so he couldn't just leave, but Cochise destroyed that hope a while ago apparently.

"I still think this is a bad idea." Ben stated as he watched his father continue to pack his stuff. His Dad paused for a moment, then looked up at him.

"I know you do, but do you have any other ideas on how to find your brother?" Tom wondered with a gentle tone. In all honesty, he knew his plan was insane too, but it was the only one he had.

"No." Ben admitted, looking down at the floor.

"So, when are we leaving?" Maggie suddenly asked, causing Tom to look over at her with a surprised expression.

"'We'?" Tom emphasised the word that Maggie used as a question. He had no memory of asking anyone to join him, or anyone saying they wanted to come.

"You didn't think we were letting you go alone, did you?" Ben replied, sounding surprised that his Dad actually thought they were just going to let him go on his insane plan without any form of backup. Tom stared at his middle son for a moment, then looked over at Maggie, Matt, and Anne. From the looks on their faces, it was clear to the father that they were all planning on joining him if they were not able to talk him out of it.

"Guys, it's too dangerous." Tom objected.

"Probably about as dangerous as this entire war. But we don't fight it alone, which is why we have a greater chance of succeeding." Anne remarked. Tom stared at her, then at the group as he thought for a moment.

"Even if I refuse to let you all come, you're just going to follow me, aren't you?" Tom quickly realized.

"Yup." Maggie confirmed, her tone almost daring him, like she was waiting for him to challenge her, to tell her that she wasn't allowed to go find Hal with him. She had been beyond worried for her boyfriend ever since the 2nd Mass was separated over five months ago, and that worry had turned into outright fear when Weaver and Tom revealed that Hal wasn't with them after they arrived in Chinatown. If Tom really was going through with his crazy plan, she was going with him.

"Okay. Ben and Maggie, you two can come with me." Tom relented, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument and hoping that if he let Ben and Maggie come with him, Anne and Matt won't fight him about wanting to come as well. He was wrong though.

"But Dad," Matt started at the same time that Anne said, "Tom," but the 2nd Mass leader held up his hand, silently telling them to stop.

"Matt, you are too young for something this dangerous of a mission, alright? Anne, the 2nd Mass needs its doctor." Tom explained to them. He was already feeling bad about letting Ben and Maggie come with him, but they were old enough and experienced enough for something this dangerous. Matt wasn't. And Anne, as the head doctor of the 2nd Mass was more needed here with them, not to mention, he wasn't about to leave his youngest son and their daughter without any parents or parental figure if anything were to happen to him.

His youngest son looked like he wanted to argue, but Anne placed her hand on his shoulder, as did Ben on Matt's other side, silently telling him to let it go while Anne said, "Okay, but you guys, be careful."

"We will." Tom agreed. When he looked down at Matt, he saw him staring at the ground, looking very upset.

"Matt?" Tom tried to get his youngest's attention as he came to stand in front of the boy, bending down a little so they were roughly the same height.

"You bring him home." Matt practically ordered his father, raising his head to look at his Dad in the eyes.

"I will, I promise." Tom said. He then pressed a quick kiss to Matt's forehead, then went to grab his bag and left the room with Ben and Maggie.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Roughly four hours later, Tom, Ben, and Maggie entered the city of Atlanta. They would've gotten there sooner, but Tom had to wait for Ben and Maggie to get their stuff and weapons before they could go. Still, they got there in good time, and immediately started driving around, looking for where the Espheni had their base, which could take a while since Atlanta was a large city, a capital city actually.

Considering how it was the capital in Georgia, all three assumed that the Espheni base would be another giant tower, but no, there wasn't anything. On one hand, that was a good thing because it meant they could navigate the city easier and it would have been practically impossible to break into a tower, but they had no idea now where to find the alien's outpost.

It took almost two more hours before they finally heard the sound of Mechs stomping. Tom slowed down the Jeep, and followed the noise. It didn't take long for them to find a large, five story warehouse that was surrounded by at least ten Mechs and five skitters. The lights were also on and working on every floor. The minute he spotted it, Tom drove the Jeep away about half a mile and stopped behind a building.

"Alright, let's go." Tom told the two others in the vehicle as he parked the Jeep.

"Again, are you sure about this plan of yours Dad?" Ben couldn't help but check again. As desperate as he was to find his big brother, this plan still sounded crazy and dangerous. If anything went wrong, there was the possibility that neither of them would be heading back to Chinatown, the possibility that Matt would truly become an orphan, and Lexi would be fatherless.

"Yup." Tom quickly answered, then grabbed his shotgun, opened the door and climbed out, shutting the door behind him.

"Dad," Ben started, but his Dad was already out of the Jeep. Ben then turned to look at Maggie over his shoulder and said, "Please tell me you think this is a little crazy."

Maggie sighed a little before she replied, "A little, but if it means we find Hal and get a little revenge on Karen, then I'm all for it."

Ben didn't have time to respond before Maggie also climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. Though he still had his doubts about his father's plan, he wasn't about to let him and Maggie do it alone, so he quickly opened the door, climbed out of the car, shut it, and quietly walked over to Maggie and his Dad, who were waiting for him in the alley.

Once they were together, the three slowly and quietly snuck closer and closer to the warehouse the Espheni were using as their base. Since it was so late at night, there were no skitters outside. Only two Mechs remained on guard duty, which made it fairly easy for the group of three to sneak inside the building.

As they went inside, they quickly dove to a dark corner to make sure that they wouldn't be seen. To their luck, the only beings in the main part of the warehouse were about five skitters who were hanging upside down on the rafters, fast asleep. Tom was about to led his son and Maggie further in when a door at the other end of the room opened and three skitters came in, a humanoid figure with them. A humanoid figure who Tom, Ben, and Maggie all recognized, Karen.

"There." Maggie whispered to the two Masons, pointing out the blonde, human, Overlord among the small group of skitters. Tom nodded, letting her know that he heard her, but stayed quiet, trying to think of a way to get Karen without raising any alarm. They had to get rid of the three skitters she was with first without waking up the sleeping skitters and without getting the attention of the Mechs.

It took Tom a minute to come up with something, but when he did, he looked over at Maggie and Ben, and said as quietly as possible, "Go outside and make a distraction."

The two nodded, and quickly slipped out of the building unnoticed while Tom remained hidden in the shadows. Only a few minutes later, he heard the small sound of something that sounded like metal cans falling to the ground. Karen and the skitters all turned their heads towards the door, clearly hearing it as well. Thinking for only a second, Karen nodded her head and the aliens skittered out of the building, the human Overlord following a few feet behind them.

As she reached the door however, Tom made his move. He snuck up behind her and slammed the end of his rifle against the back of her blonde head. It immediately knocked her out cold, but Tom grabbed her before she could hit the ground. Once he had her, he looked outside, and not seeing any Mechs or skitters, he dragged out and away from the building.

After he crossed the street and entered the alley he and his son and Maggie had been in only minutes earlier, he looked back out for any sign of the two he travelled with. It took about a minute or two before he saw Ben's head peeking from an alley about half a block down the street. When Ben turned his head in Tom's direction, the father waved his arm for a split second to get his attention without capturing the attention of any Mechs or skitters that might be in the area. When he saw his middle son nod, or at least, it looked like he nodded, Tom backed up into the alley and waited.

Two minutes later, Maggie and Ben entered the alley. As they came over to Tom and the unconscious Karen, the parent said, "Got her."

"Good. Let's get out of here." Ben responded.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Almost an hour after they kidnapped Karen, the three found themselves in an empty garage attached to a two-story house only a few blocks away from the Espheni base. Tom explained to Ben and Maggie that he didn't want to take Karen in the Jeep because neither of them were sure what she was capable of, so they took her someplace else, but stayed pretty close to the warehouse. While they knew that it wouldn't be long before the skitters and Mechs knew Karen was gone, they were pretty sure the aliens didn't think they would remain so close to their base and therefore, believed they were reasonably safe. By the time the hour had passed and they heard nothing, they were nearly certain of it.

As the minutes turned into an hour, the three heard a small noise coming from Karen, who was lying down on her side against the wall, her wrists tied with zip-ties in front of her. She had remained completely unconscious for the entire time duration, but it seemed now that she was finally waking up.

"Ugh." Karen groaned, lifting her hand up to her head though she didn't open her eyes as she struggled to remember what happened just before everything went back. To her surprise though, she found she had to move both of her hands because they were tied together in front of her.

"Don't move." A familiar voice threatened, the sound of a gun being cocked following immediately after. Karen immediately opened her eyes to see Tom standing in front of her, pointing a handgun right at her forehead.

"Tom? What a surprise." Karen said as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, which Tom allowed. As she did that, she took notice of the two others with the older man, "And Ben, and Maggie. Anyone else here?"

"I'm not going to answer that. You on the other hand are going to be answer a few questions." Tom replied, thinking that if Karen believed that others were actually around, she would be more inclined to not try anything.

"If you simply wanted to talk Tom, you could've just come and talk. You didn't have to sneak into my facility and kidnap me. I told you my door is always open." Karen said, sounding a little confused by what he did.

"Considering that two weeks after you said that, you attacked us and put us in ghettos, I decided to go this route." Tom retorted.

"That wasn't my decision, but I understand your line of thinking. What can I do for you Tom?" Karen wondered with her best diplomatic voice and face expression.

"You can tell me where Hal is." Tom answered with a hard and serious voice though he was a little surprised that Karen didn't even think about her ex-boyfriend.

"Excuse me?" Karen questioned, sounding a little stunned and confused. Tom didn't buy it though. He knew that she had to know something.

"Don't play dumb Karen. I know that Hal was trapped in the fence you guys lowered when you attacked us and put us in the ghetto. But Hal wasn't with us, so where is he?" Tom demanded. Karen took a deep breath, but said nothing as she simply stared at the 2nd Mass leader. Maggie, who had been getting more and more impatient and frustrated with Karen, decided that they had been waiting long enough. So she raised her gun and fired at the other blonde.

_BANG!_

"AH!" Karen screamed as the bullet from Maggie's shot through her right leg. She instinctively put her tied hands on the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding before she glared up at Maggie and growled, "You!"

"Tell us where my son is Karen. If you don't, Maggie won't be the only one here taking shots at you." Tom warned her, taking her attention off of Maggie.

The human Overlord looked up at Tom, a pained and hateful expression on her face. When she saw the hard and furious look on his face, she turned to look at Maggie, who also had an expression of fury on her face. Turning her head to look over at Ben, she saw he didn't look furious but he did look serious. There was no doubt in her mind that all three of them would start shooting at her if she didn't respond. Only problem with their threat though, was that they needed her alive in order to talk. They couldn't shoot her much.

"Tell me! Otherwise," Tom ordered before Karen cut him off.

"'You'll kill me'? Then you will never know where Hal is." Karen pointed out, smirking ever so slightly as she did so. Tom gripped his gun tighter, but didn't pull the trigger.

"I can still hurt you." Tom responded, taking a step closer to her.

"You could, but unfortunately Tom, our time is up." Karen told him. Tom's face immediately grew to one of confusion before he looked over at Ben, just in time to see the spikes on his son's back glow blue. Skitters were nearby. Before his son could say anything though, the garage door was blasted open, causing Tom, Ben, and Maggie to fall to the ground.

It took a few seconds for the three to get their bearings, but by the time they did that, they saw a Mech standing where the door used to be, pointing its weapon at them while a whole horde of skitters, or so it seemed, stood behind it.

"No, don't shoot." Karen ordered as she pulled her wrists apart, breaking the zip-ties easily due to her extra strength, got to her feet and started limping towards them.

"I tell you, you let us go and I will let you go. That's the deal." Karen reminded Tom of what he offered before her skitters and Mechs showed up.

"Where is Hal?" Tom questioned again, his voice still hard and threatening as before. A regretful, almost mournful expression came upon her face as she lowered her head.

"I'm sorry Tom, but Hal, Hal is dead. He has been for almost a month." Karen revealed, lifting her head just enough to see that her eyes were actually filling with tears, "The ghetto where he was caught fire, and he didn't make it. I'm really sorry Tom."

Karen then turned and walked away, going slower due to the bullet wound in her leg, but Tom didn't notice, didn't pay her or the skitters and Mechs any attention as they left. The three stayed in their respective positions as she walked away, they were in too much shock by what Karen just told them to do anything.

Ben wasn't sure how much time had passed before he looked over at his father and tried to get his attention, "Dad?"

Tom didn't say anything, didn't look at either Ben or Maggie. He just stared at the spot where Karen was when she told him that Hal was dead. It wasn't until another minute or two had passed that he stood up, reached for the rifle had put on the ground earlier in order to hold the handgun and started to run towards the large opening in the garage. Ben, immediately realizing that his Dad was about go after Karen again, quickly wrapped his arms around his father's waist and pulled him back, saying, "Dad stop! She's gone."

"She was lying, she was lying." Tom insisted, struggling against his son's hold, though he couldn't break it. With his spikes, Ben was far stronger than him, but Tom didn't care. Karen was lying to him, Hal wasn't dead, he couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be.

"Lying or not, she's gone Dad. We got to go." Ben told him, trying to think only of what they had to do now instead letting the pain and devastation at the news his older brother was dead overwhelm him. Slowly, his Dad stopped fighting, beginning to go limp in his arms.

"She was lying." Dad whispered again, looking up at Ben with a desperation that broke his son's heart, knowing that his Dad's own heart was breaking.

"Come on Dad, let's go." Ben repeated with a gentle tone, and helped his father get to his feet. He looked over at Maggie and saw a blank and empty expression on her own face, but she also stood up. Once they were all on their feet, Ben led them back to the Jeep so they could head back to Chinatown.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Unknown to the large group that had made themselves at home in Chinatown, there was a lone figure hidden in the dark shadows provided by the two buildings he stood in between and the lack of moonlight. He wasn't doing anything but staring at the people in the 'courtyard', for lack of a better term, leaning casually against the wall, though his focus was primarily on a blonde, curly-haired boy around the age of 12 or 13, and a woman with long, straight, pale blonde hair, her age somewhere in the early 30's probably.

After watching those two for a few minutes, he looked around, hopping to find the other three he would watch, but they weren't there this time. However, there was someone else with the kid and woman he had seen before. She was young woman, probably in her late teens, and she had strange, white, hair. Somehow, she looked familiar to the young man in the shadows, though he didn't really know why.

The man in the shadows stayed there for a few more minutes before he turned and started walking down the alley, away from the courtyard. He stayed longer than he should've. If he remained any longer, he might've been seen, and it was extremely important that he wasn't. So he made his way to the weak point he found in the camp's perimeter to leave, zipping up his black jacket as he did so, which then hid the old camo one he was wearing underneath.

**AN** – So, how evil am I for putting the Mason family through this?


	8. Denial and Anger

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! But what makes you think Hal has amnesia? *cue evil laugh*

**AN** – Hello! I am back with another chapter. Warning you all now, that this chapter and the next few that come after this were a bit hard for me to write because I was a bit anxious to get to a certain spot, so if these next few chapters are a little rushed and sloppy, I'm really sorry. I hope you all like this chapter though.

**Enjoy!**

Anne slowly walked towards the door in the infirmary before pushing it open and taking a few steps outside, taking a deep breath as she did so. Though the 2nd Mass wasn't fighting as much as they did when they were in Charleston, they were still pretty involved in the war, which meant she was still pretty busy as their doctor and because of that, there were times she just needed to take a breather.

As she exited the building, she brought both of her hands up to her neck and tried to rub the soreness out of it, still breathing in the fresh air deeply and closing her eyes. After a moment, she lowered her arms and looked out at the courtyard.

Examining her surroundings, her eyes immediately locked on Matt. He was sitting on a bench by the pond at the edge of the little courtyard all alone, looking down at the ground. A wave of sympathy and pain rushed through Anne's heart at the sight which had becoming more and more frequent in the last week, when his father and brother returned and informed him of what Karen said about the fate of his oldest brother.

Since the day Tom, Ben, and Maggie returned to Chinatown after finding Karen, Matt was usually found there, unless Weaver or his Dad put him on sentry duty. There had been times she had noticed that he would actually stay put when it was time to eat or when he should be going to bed. More often than not, she or Ben or Weaver would go and get him to get in line for food or go tell him to get some sleep. It was seriously beginning to worry the doctor.

When Ben told Anne, Matt, and Weaver that Karen told them Hal was dead, Tom and Matt immediately denied it. Anytime someone tried to talk to them about it, they refused to even believe the possibility that Karen was telling the truth. Ben though, didn't seem to be in denial like his father and younger brother was, but there was something strange about his reaction to Anne. Almost like he was on autopilot, like he hadn't really processed it yet. She worried about the day he would. Tom, Ben, and Matt weren't the only people Anne was worried about.

While Tom and Matt were in complete denial and Ben appeared to be numb, Maggie was another story. She had barely said a word since she returned to Chinatown with Tom and Ben. The only emotion she had shown at all was fury. Every patrol Maggie had been on, she threw her whole rage into, constantly shooting at all the aliens she could. The fellow soldiers were beginning to get scared of her, especially since it was starting to look like she might go out of her way to start a fight with the skitters.

Anne tried to her, tried to talk to all of them, but they refused. She knew that though they needed to come to terms with Hal's death, they couldn't keep bottling up their emotions inside either. They would explode. It was only a matter of time.

The doctor was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Weaver call her, "Anne?"

"I'm really worried about them Weaver." Anne told the Colonel. Weaver sighed, and came to stand beside her.

"I know. I am too." The Colonel informed her.

"It's like they are refusing to even consider that Hal really is, is," Anne broke off, unable to say the word 'dead'. During the few months in Charleston when Hal was paralyzed, Anne had gotten closer to her boyfriend's oldest child, having been his doctor and somewhat caretaker before he got enough mobility to move in with Maggie. Though she knew that she was not his mother, nor did she act like it, she couldn't help but feel a motherly love for him and she had a hard time believing that the young man who had shown himself to be so strong, was dead.

"I know. But everyone grieves in different ways and in different amounts of time. It's to be expected." Weaver responded, understanding what Anne was saying and why she couldn't finish the sentence. He had also grown close to Hal, as well as Tom Mason's other sons, and the fact that Hal was now, apparently dead, hurt all of them.

"Do you think Karen was lying?" Anne suddenly questioned. She knew that it was a possibility that the human Overlord wasn't telling the truth, she had lied before, and tried to manipulate people, sometimes quiet successfully. She wouldn't put it pass Karen to do it again.

"I honestly don't know. She has lied about people being dead before." Weaver reminded her, though he didn't really need to, "But, I have no clue."

"How is Lexi doing?" Weaver suddenly asked, remembering that Ben and Matt weren't Hal's only siblings anymore.

Anne immediately turned her head to the side, seeing her daughter volunteering with something, she couldn't exactly see what, but Lexi seemed to be enjoying herself, though she noticed the young woman glance over at Matt every now and then.

"I don't really know. She didn't know Hal that much, what with him having an eye bug, then me and her being held hostage by Karen for so long. She only really got two weeks with him, but I think she is a bit sad that she has lost a brother, and upset that her other brothers and Dad are upset and angry. I just, feel bad that she's never really going to know Hal though. She's missing out." Anne answered after a moment, still staring at her daughter.

"Yeah." Weaver agreed, also turning his head to look at the youngest Mason. It still baffled him at how she had grown into a teenager even though she wasn't even a year old yet. Apparently, it was because of her Espheni DNA, but they weren't exactly sure why or how to stop it yet.

"I'm planning on sending out a few soldiers for a food run. I'm thinking maybe of sending Matt, Maggie, and Ben, maybe Pope too. Give them something to do, distract them a little." Weaver broke the silence, causing Anne to look over at him.

"Yeah, something else to focus on might be good for them right now." Anne responded with a nod, approving the Colonel's idea. Sometimes, a distraction was a good thing for people who were grieving.

"My thoughts exactly." Weaver said. He glanced back over at Matt for a moment before heading off to tell Tom, thinking that the father and fellow leader should know his plan and where his sons were going to be.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Ben resisted the need to look over his shoulder at Pope, again. He had already given into the urge too many times. If he continued, it would make the older man suspicious, if he wasn't already that is. The blonde didn't really understand why Weaver sent Pope on the food run with him, Maggie, and Matt. While it made sense to send an even number of people, in case they needed to split up, Ben would've taken anyone other than Pope. He could clearly tell that Maggie felt the same way. The only one who somewhat got along with the man was Matt. which caused the teenager to wonder if he should've let Matt team up with Pope instead of having him go with Maggie.

As the group of four decided to check the houses in the area for food on the way to the grocery story they were supposed to raid, they realized it would be faster if they split up. When Ben saw Maggie glaring at Pope, the blonde quickly told her to go with Matt and he would go with the man Maggie hated. Ben was a little worried what she would do if she was alone with Pope when he made one of his snide comments. She had been so angry lately, and there was no way he was letting his baby brother team up with the former criminal. So that left him to go with Pope.

Oddly enough, Pope had kept his mouth shut the entire time. Not a word passed through his lips since they left Chinatown and it was making Ben extremely nervous. It was just so out of character for him, which was one of the main reasons the teenager kept glancing at him, but the only thing Ben could see was a determined yet thoughtful expression. He didn't say anything about it though, deciding that the silence was a nice break from the rude and snide remarks that Pope usually made.

Soon, after finding barely anything in the house he and Pope were searching in, they left and headed down to the street, just as Maggie and Matt were doing at the house across from them.

"You guys find anything?" Ben questioned as Maggie and Matt came towards them.

"Just some more canned soup and beans. Did find some pickles too though." Maggie replied as she and Matt reached Ben and Pope, then asked, "What about you guys?"

"More packages of oatmeal, some canned peaches and pineapples, but nothing else. We should probably just get to the grocery store. There will probably be more food there." Ben answered.

"We'll have to make it quick. We need to be back before dark." Maggie reminded him, looking up at the sky. It was already getting late into the afternoon, and they still hadn't yet gotten to the store they were supposed to search. It made her wish that Weaver had sent them earlier in the day. Nobody said anything else though. They just started making their way down the street to the store that was still nearly a mile away.

Once they finally reached the store however, they found it was basically untouched. There were rows and rows of food all at their fingertips. It made them wish they were able to bring a truck with them, but they didn't have any vehicles working at the moment, meaning, they would have to come back for more food later. So, the four immediately started filling their bags with packaged food that wouldn't have gone bad over time. When Matt however pulled something that looked like a metal kit out of his bag first though, he got Pope's attention.

"Whatcha got there little man?" Pope spoke for the first time since they had left Charleston. Though he directed the question at Matt, he got everyone's attention since he had been so quiet.

When Weaver told him that he was going on this food run with Maggie, Ben, and Matt, he couldn't hide his surprise, since he hardly ever went on runs or scouting missions with them, and the Colonel explained that since the three of them were still dealing with the news of Hal's death, he wanted someone who wouldn't get too distracted from their thoughts and grief and leave themselves exposed to the skitters. He did however threaten that if Pope did or said anything that would make their pain even remotely worse, he would be in lock up for a month. It was why he had stayed silent until now. He hated being quiet, and it seemed like a safe question, so he asked it.

"I found a first aid kit in the bathroom in one of the houses we were checking. Hasn't been touched. I thought maybe Anne could use it." Matt answered as he turned his attention back to his task of putting packages of food into his bag.

"Good thinking." Pope commented, also going back to his task. Ben and Maggie kept their eyes on the former criminal for another few seconds though before they continued emptying the shopping carts of the food they had found that they could bring back to Chinatown and put it in their own bags.

"You know, I'm sorry, about your brother." Pope offered his condolences with a quiet, hesitant voice, like he wasn't sure if should say anything.

"Don't be. He's not dead." Matt replied, not even looking up at the older man.

"I heard that Karen said," Pope stared in a confused tone before the youngest member of the group cut him off.

"She was lying. She told Dad Anne and Lexi were dead too, remember? And they're still alive. She's lying about Hal too." Matt pointed out to the former criminal. Nobody could deny that, not even Ben who everyone seemed to think had accepted that his brother was dead, though that wasn't actually true.

In actuality, Ben didn't really know what to think. He didn't want to believe that his older brother was dead, but it seemed to be the only thing that made sense. The rebel skitters and Cochise would've found Hal by now if he was still alive. Plus, when Karen told them he was dead, it looked like she was seriously going to cry. Though Karen might be a good actress, those tears, that sorrow was not fake. Ben could easily tell that, but he didn't say any of his thoughts out loud.

Instead, the teenager went back to work, trying to fill his bag as much as possible. Nobody actually expected this place to have so much food left and untouched. It was why they decided to check some of the houses on the way. After all, it had been over three years since the war started. They figured that the store would've been picked clean by other survivors or skitters. If they had known, the definitely would've found a vehicle first, and had brought more people with them to take it all back.

As Ben zipped up the bag though, after stuffing it as much as he could, he stopped and looked down one of the aisles. He heard something, or, he thought he had. Due to his spikes, his hearing was much stronger than people who didn't have them, but at times, his ears would play tricks on him, thinking he had heard something when there wasn't anything or anybody around.

"What is it kid?" Pope questioned when he noticed Ben staring off into the distance. Though Ben didn't respond, Pope had his answer when he saw the spikes on the teenager's back start to glow. Only seconds later, the sound of skitters coming towards them filled the room.

"Skitters!" Ben shouted as he dropped his bag and grabbed his gun and started firing at the skitters who appeared out of the shadows now that they were close enough. Maggie and Pope immediately did the same, but Matt, who had left his own gun on an empty shelf a few feet away, got up to go grab it when another skitter suddenly appeared in his path before charging at the young boy.

"Matt! Watch out!" Ben shouted when he realized what was happening with his youngest brother. He wanted to go help, but the skitters were already nearly overwhelming him, Maggie and Pope. As he looked back at Matt, he saw him trip over a discarded bottle of pop and proceed to fall to the floor.

"AH!" Matt screamed as he fell on his right wrist, slipping onto his back as he did so. He grabbed his injured limb with his other hand, then looked up in time to see a skitter coming right at him, slowly though, like an animal about to pounce on its injured prey. Matt let go of his wrist and started to push himself backwards, away from the skitter who was still coming towards, but he stopped when he felt his head and back hit the wall behind him.

"Matt!" The youngest Mason son heard his older brother shout his name, but he didn't move. He didn't have time or space to move. The skitter was nearly completely on top of him.

Amongst the gunfire, another gun went off, blowing a hole in the skitter's head before it could get any closer to Matt. The youngest Mason son ignored the drops of skitter blood that landed on his face and looked over to where the shot had come from. He expected to find his older brother, or Maggie, or Pope, but it wasn't any of them.

A man that Matt couldn't really see stood alone, a semi-automatic held tightly in his hands. The man took a few steps closer, and Matt gasped. He did recognized the person who just saved his life, though he had no clue of the person's identity. It was the man in the ski mask, the one who had saved Ben when they came back to Chinatown over a week ago. The masked man stared at him for a moment, before turning to shoot at the skitters, causing Ben, Maggie, and Pope to turn their heads to see who else was firing.

"Who the h*ll is that?" Pope asked nobody in particular. He hadn't been with the group the last time the masked man had shown up, so he knew nothing about him except the rumors that were going around the camp, though he didn't realize this person was the masked man they were talking about. Neither Ben nor Maggie answered him though. Killing the skitters and getting out of the building alive took priority.

It turned out, they didn't actually need to put much focus back on the aliens that were attacking them. The masked man apparently had it all under control. The minute he revealed his presence, most of the skitters actually turned to attack him, but didn't get close to him at all. Though he had only one gun, he fought and killed the aliens as though he had ten.

Within minutes, the skitters were dead, leaving Ben, Maggie, Pope, and Matt safe, looking up at him in shock and amazement. The masked person then turned his head back to face them, and after staring at them for a few seconds, he slowly backed up until he was hidden in the shadows. Pope immediately ran after him, but soon stopped when he couldn't see any sign of the person anymore. He had no idea where he was or where he went.

"He just, disappeared." Pope said in a stunned voice as he looked back over at the group.

"Yeah, he does that." Maggie replied. A small groan turned everyone's attention to the youngest member with them, who was struggling to sit up, a pained expression on his face.

"Matt! Are you okay?" Ben shouted his question as he rushed to his brother's side, falling to his knees beside him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright." Matt answered as Ben helped him sit up, instinctively bringing his hurt arm to his chest as he did so. When he saw his older brother's worried eyes go to his arm, Matt said, "Just hurt my wrist."

Ben reached for Matt's injured wrist and gingerly held it in his hand, carefully looking it over before he said, "It's not broken. Probably just sprained, but we should get you checked out by Anne when we get back."

The younger sibling nodded, but didn't respond. Instead, he looked over at the place where the masked person had come from, deep in thought. He was pulled out of it though when he heard Ben call his name, "Matt?"

"That was the same guy, the one that saved you when we were coming back to Chinatown a week ago." Matt told him, looking back over at the teenager.

Ben turned his head to face the direction where the masked person disappeared before telling his younger brother, "Yeah, I know."

After a few seconds of staring though, Ben turned back to his little brother and hauled him to his feet as he said, "Come on. We better get out of here before more skitters arrive."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom was with Weaver when Pope came into the room with the news that they were back, the mission was a success, and that his sons were in the infirmary. The second he heard the last part though, he flew out of the room and ran all the way to the building, the Colonel following right behind him, though not as fast.

"Are you boys okay?" Tom immediately asked as he burst into the room, seeing Matt sitting on a gurney, his legs dangling over the side, while Anne sat beside him on a stool. Ben stood on his younger brother's other side with Maggie who were watching the doctor and Matt.

"Yeah Dad, we're fine." Ben answered as his father quickly pulled him into a hug before letting go and doing to same to Matt, though he did it a lot more carefully as he quickly noticed that Anne was holding on to the young boy's arm. Once his Dad pulled away, he stared at Matt's limb as Anne continued to wrap it in the tensor bandage.

"Then what's with the wrapping? If you were fine then there wouldn't be wrapping. But there's wrapping so obviously you're not fine." Tom said, still looking a bit panicked, which no one blamed him for. As he was still processing his oldest son's death, the thought of his other children being hurt was most definitely his worst fear.

"Tom, he's okay." Anne assured him before explaining, "He sprained his wrist when he fell on the ground, that's all. It's nothing serious. He'll have to keep it wrapped for a few weeks while the muscles heal, but he'll be fine."

"Would've been a lot worse if it wasn't for that guy." Matt immediately chimed in, looking over at his Dad.

"What guy?" Tom questioned, not hearing anything about somebody else being there beside Pope, Maggie, and Ben.

"You remember the masked guy that saved Ben when we were coming back from destroying that alien base over a week ago?" Matt asked. When he saw his Dad nod, Matt said, "He showed up. He saved me from the skitters."

"Did you get a good look at him?" Tom wondered after a brief moment of silence.

"No. He was wearing the mask again." Matt answered. While his Dad looked deep in thought, clearly trying to figure out what was going on and who the person was, Weaver took a different approach.

"Who is this guy?" Weaver asked no one in particular.

"I don't know, but he's a good fighter. Took down at least half of the group of skitters by himself." Ben informed his father, the Colonel and the doctor.

"If he is against the skitters, and knows where we are, why doesn't he just join us? And why the mask?" Weaver then inquired, not at all understanding who the masked person was and his actions.

"Maybe he has a bunch of scars on his face he doesn't want people to see?" Matt suggested.

"If that's the case, why stay away?" Tom then questioned before saying with strong certainty, "No, there's something going on with this person. I think it's high time we find out who he is."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Ben laid quietly on his bed in the room he shared with Matt. The room was larger than the other bedrooms in the building, but it had two small beds which made it a perfect size for two siblings. On the bed across from him, Matt laid on his one bed, fast asleep. Or at least, Ben thought he was asleep, but he learned he was wrong when he heard his little brother ask, "Ben, are you awake?"

The teenager turned his head to look over at Matt, and found the younger sibling staring at the older one. Ben then nodded and said, "What's up?"

"Do you, do you think Hal really is dead?" Matt's quiet, scared, and heartbroken voice asked. Ben stared at his brother for a moment, but once he saw that Matt's eyes were beginning to fill with tears, he got up off the bed and walked over to him.

As Ben sat down on Matt's bed, the kid turned to lie on his back so he could stare up at his older brother. The teenager then put his hand on Matt's shoulder to comfort him as he tried to figure out how to answer him. Ben himself still wasn't exactly sure what he believed. It was extremely possible that Karen was lying. After all, when Karen told their Dad that Anne and Lexi were dead, she even showed him their bodies, but he couldn't deny the emotional response Karen gave them when she told them about Hal's death. It looked too real for it to be fake, and yet, Ben found himself wanting to tell Matt that she was indeed lying just so he wouldn't have to feel the pain of losing his oldest brother, even though he didn't want Matt to live with a false hope.

"I, I honestly don't know Matt." Ben finally responded, "I just don't know. I want to think she was lying, I truly do, but I don't know."

Matt knew that the middle brother was just being honest, and he did appreciate that, but it just wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. And the fact that Ben was considering that Karen was telling the truth, that Hal was dead, caused a tear to slip out from his eye. Seeing that, Ben quickly pulled Matt up and into his arms, holding him as tightly as he could without hurting him.

"If Hal really is alive though Matt, you know he'll find his way home. He will. You know he will, nothing will be able to stop him." Ben whispered in Matt's ear. He felt Matt nod against his shoulder, but the younger Mason didn't say anything else.

Ben didn't know how long exactly he held his little brother in his arms, but once he felt Matt go limp and realized that he had fallen asleep, Ben lowered him back on the bed before he laid down beside him. As he started succumbing to his own exhaustion, Ben silently prayed that if Hal was still alive, that he would come home soon.


	9. Distraction

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To Tardimpalarts** – Thanks for your review! Glad you are enjoying this chapter! Yeah, it can be really frustrating having to do chapters and scenes you need to have when you just want to get to a certain spot. Hope you are doing well on your story and I hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Ever since Tom decided that they need to know who the masked man is a week ago, everyone noticed a change in him, and no one was sure if it was a good change or a bad one. Anne personally didn't think it was a good one. Though she had said that distraction could be a good thing, the leader had basically become obsessed with his search and that wasn't a good thing. It seemed pretty clear to Anne that he was so focused on his search for the person who saved his two youngest sons, that he wasn't even trying to process the news that Hal was dead, wasn't properly grieving, and that greatly concerned the doctor.

He was basically doing the exact same thing he had done when the Volm and the rebel skitters had told him that they had no news about Hal and decided to go after Karen himself. He came up with a hastily made plan without thinking about all the things that could go wrong in complete desperation to find Hal, but Anne understood that obsession. His son was missing after all.

But this new obsession for the masked man made absolutely no sense to her, nor did it make sense to anyone else in the camp who knew about it. Though he did still continue to plan offensive attacks to launch against the aliens with Weaver and Cochise, most of his focus remained on the mysterious person who had saved Ben and Matt, and no one was quite sure why. Due to the growing level of his obsession though, Anne wouldn't actually be that surprised if he actually decided to go out and hunt the man down himself.

Finally Anne decided to talk to her boyfriend when it was clear that the obsession was only growing worse as answers continued to elude him. That conversation went nowhere fast though. She had asked him why it was so important to him to find this person, but not only did he not even give her a good answer, she could see in his eyes that he had one and wasn't going to share it. Beginning to feel a bit fed up and not wanting to lose her patience, she left the room in search of Weaver. Besides herself, the Colonel was the closest to Tom, not counting the man's of course. If anyone knew what was going on with her boyfriend and had advise on what to do, it would be him.

She found the Colonel walking away from the gate and towards the main building in Chinatown. He stopped though when he saw her coming towards him. When she was only a few feet away, he asked, "You okay?"

"No. He's being unreasonable and stupid." Anne immediately replied without giving Weaver any kind of context.

"Tom?" Weaver assumed, but the doctor didn't let him know if he was right or not, too lost in her rant.

"He's distracted, focused on something." Anne continued, before Weaver interrupted her, "I thought you said that was a good thing."

"Short term, yes. But this, this is obsession. He's not even thinking clearly." Anne explained.

Weaver then grabbed her arm to get her complete attention before he said, "Sooner or later, this will all blow over. And when that does happen, he'll, he'll just have to accept the facts. He's too much of a logical person not to."

"The longer he waits for that to happen though, the harder it will hit him." Anne responded, finally calming down. She had been trying to be patient with Tom, but she knew first hand that denial and ignoring the grief process could tear you up inside and break you. She had felt it after her son had died. She didn't want Tom to go through the same thing.

"I know. But that's why he has us." Weaver told her with a small, encouraging smile.

"Yeah." Anne replied with a slight nod. She still was frustrated with Tom, but she knew what he was going through, or a least part of it. He had not seen his son die, hadn't seen his son's body, and Karen had lied to him before about people he loved being dead. He had every right to disbelieve what the human Overlord told him. But if Karen was telling him the truth, and Hal was indeed dead, he was going to need his family and friends there for him, and that's where Anne was going to be, right by his side as always.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Later that day, Weaver, along with Ben, Maggie, Tector, Anthony, and a few other 2nd Mass soldiers made their way towards the grocery store that Ben, Maggie, Pope, and Matt had hit last week. They weren't sure if it was being watched by skitters anymore, since all the ones before were killed, but considering how much food they had found there, it was decided that getting all that food for the 2nd Mass was a risk worth taking. So they headed out with two trucks so they could bring back much more than Ben, Matt, Maggie, and Pope had gotten.

Luckily, the food all seemed to be there, so the soldiers worked quickly in packing as much as they could into the trucks. Once that was done, they started making their way back to Chinatown. But as they drove alongside the Savannah river, their luck turned to the worse when Ben's spikes lit up.

"Skitters!" The formerly harnessed teenager shouted, warning the others of the incoming threat.

Only seconds later, a horde of the aliens appeared. All the soldiers who weren't driving immediately got out to protect themselves and the food they found, not at all willing to let the aliens stop them. When Ben saw two Mega Mechs come out of hiding from behind the buildings, he saw one immediately point its weapons at the group where Maggie was and got ready to fire.

"Watch out!" Ben yelled to Maggie, effectively getting her attention. It was too late however. By the time Maggie turned to see the Mega Mech, it had already fired. She ran to get out of the way, but the explosion caused by the alien robot forced her off her feet. As she fell to the ground, her head smacked on something hard before she started rolling down towards the what she knew the be the river. Just as she felt herself hit the water, everything went black.

Maggie wasn't sure how long she was out as she came to very slowly, her head throbbing in pain and her entire body feeling cold and heavy. She then suddenly felt something, or somebody pressing hard against her chest as a voice demanded, _"Breathe, just breathe, you're going to be okay. Just breathe."_

She soon realized that the pressing on her chest was from a pair of hands pushing down on her, but she didn't know why. Everything was completely jumbled in her mind. Soon though, she felt something coming up her throat, so she opened her mouth to let whatever it was out. Suddenly, she was coughing up water, and couldn't seem to stop. The hands stopped pressing her chest when she started coughing and instead, helped her turn to her side to make it easier for her to expel the water from her lungs.

After what felt like forever, the coughing ceased and Maggie breathed as fast and as deeply as she could, her lungs begging for oxygen. The hands that were holding her steady on her side moved to let her lie down on her back. As that happened, a gentle voice whispered, _"It's okay, you're okay."_

Somehow, Maggie felt as though she knew the voice. She didn't know how, her head was pounding too hard and felt so foggy that she couldn't think straight, but she knew that she knew that voice. Slowly, she forced her eyes open so she could see who was there, see who was the person who saved her from drowning, but to her surprise, it was a person wearing a ski mask who was looking down at her. The only thing visible through the mask was his eyes, beautiful, familiar, brown eyes.

Exhaustion started to overcome the female soldier as her body completely ran out of adrenaline now that she was safe. Maggie closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep, hoping that when she woke up her head wouldn't be in so much pain. A hand suddenly started to gently push strands of her wet hair away from her face, and the blonde instinctively leaned her head against it. Despite how much her head was hurting, the touch soothed it.

"Maggie!" Maggie heard another voice shouting her name and the hand that was against her cheek suddenly disappeared. She forced her eyes open, expecting to still see the masked man looking down over her, but saw nothing except a dark blue sky littered with stars. The man was gone. Suddenly, Ben was there, falling to his knees beside her.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked worriedly as he helped her sit up. Maggie instinctively brought her hand up to the right side of her forehead where the source of pain once, and felt a lump beginning to grow.

"Maggie? Ben?" The two then heard Weaver's voice calling out for them. They both turned their heads to the side and saw the Colonel walking towards them. When he saw them on the ground, he ran over to them.

"Weaver, help me get her to Anne." Ben told the older man once he reached them. Maggie would've normally protested that she needed help, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't even be able to get to her feet without falling back down. Her head felt as though someone was slamming a hammer into it and her vision was pretty blurry. So she allowed Ben and Weaver to help her stand and bring her over to the truck to take her back to the 2nd Mass.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Maggie sat completely still on the metal table in the examination room in the infirmary as her eyes followed the tip of the penlight in Anne's hand. Normally, Anne would've turned the light on and have Maggie follow the light, but since the blonde's head was still hurting pretty badly, she decided to check for a concussion this way. The light being shined in her eyes would've only made it worse.

Behind Anne, stood Ben, Tom, and Weaver, watching in silence as the doctor checked over the soldier. Once Ben had found Maggie on the shore by the river, he and Weaver helped her up and took her over to where the other soldiers were gathering. As soon they got there, they headed straight back to Chinatown and brought Maggie to the infirmary. Hearing someone was in the infirmary, Tom came running, worried that his son might have been injured. Luckily for him though, Ben was fine.

"Well, you have concussion and a couple of bad bruises, but nothing's broken. You're going to have to take it easy for the next week or so, but you'll be okay." Anne finally said as she lowered the pen and put it in the pocket of her lab coat.

"How did you get out of the water? Did you swim?" Ben questioned while Anne gave Maggie an ice pack for the large bump on her head.

"No. All I remember was hitting something hard right before I fell into the river." Maggie tried to recall what happened, putting the ice against her head, wincing as she did so.

"Then, how did you get out?" Tom wondered as he turned to face Maggie. Ever since she had been partnered with Hal, and then started dating him, she had basically become a member of the family. Even though Hal wasn't with them right now, that hadn't changed.

"There was someone there. Someone pulled me out." Maggie replied, closing her eyes as her headache seemed to intensify.

"Who?" Ben then asked, trying to remember if he had seen anyone else when he found her, but came up with nothing.

"It was that man, the one wearing the ski mask." Maggie revealed. A shocked and confused expression appeared on everyone's faces when they heard that.

"He showed up again?" Tom asked, just to be sure. He had a feeling the man who saved his sons would return, but he had hoped that when he did, he would learn of the man's identity.

"It's strange, I can't help but feel as if I knew who he was." Maggie continued, ignoring Tom's question as she wracked her brain for the face of who the voice belonged to.

"Maybe you were hallucinating. You did hit your head pretty hard." Anne suggested. She knew from her experiences as a doctor that people who sustain a head injury could easily become confused and see things that weren't there, especially when it first occurs. Added with the fact that Maggie had fallen into the water and couldn't breathe for several minutes, it was even more than probable as lack of oxygen would've affected her brain too.

"Maybe." Maggie replied, knowing that hallucinating was a very real possibility, though she had this feeling deep down in her gut that she hadn't been at all.

"Either way, we should keep an eye out. Just in case." Weaver chimed in. While so far it appeared that the masked man was on their side, was trying to help them, it was still possible that he could be a danger to the 2nd Mass.

As everyone nodded, agreeing with what the Colonel said, Anne turned back to her patient and gently ordered, "And you, need stay here for the night. I want to make sure your concussion isn't anything more serious."

"Fine." Maggie agreed somewhat bitterly. While she still hated being in hospitals and infirmaries, she knew that head injuries can be serious and she was too tired and in too much pain to argue anyways. So she let Anne led her towards on of the cots while everyone else headed out of the building.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After they all left the infirmary, Tom quickly sent Ben and Matt to bed as it was late and they both had patrols in the morning. He was planning on talking to Weaver about the masked man, wondering if maybe they should now seek him out, see if they could find who he was and what he was doing. Being in a war, they needed all the allies they could get. However, before he could even bring the topic up, the two leaders saw Cochise walking towards them, to both of their surprise. As far as they knew, the Volm wasn't coming back to the 2nd Mass for another week.

"Tom Mason." Cochise greeted, but before Tom and Weaver could respond, he continued with an urgent tone, "I must speak with you."

"Okay, come with us." Tom replied, seeing that some people who were still out in the courtyard were staring at them, wondering what was happening and why Cochise was back early. He and Weaver then quickly led Cochise into the building where their office was set up.

As soon as they were safe behind closed doors, Tom turned to Cochise and asked, "What's going on?"

"We have just learned that the Espheni are in the process of creating a weapon of mass destruction, and they intend to test on your camp."

**AN** – Despite how it might look, this is not a Ben/Maggie story. I hate that in the show the writers put them together. I am a Halgie shipper all the way. If you ship Ben and Maggie, then I'm sorry to say that that won't be happening in this story or in any of my stories. They are friends, or at most, have a brother-sister relationship. That is it. See you all next time when I post the next chapter. Bye.


	10. The Person Behind the Mask

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Tom laid as still as he could behind the brush, staring at the Espheni base a few metres ahead of him. Beside him was Pope, Ben, and Lexi. It had been a little over a week since Cochise arrived in Chinatown with the news that their alien enemies were creating a new weapon to be used against the 2nd Mass, but it wasn't until now that they were about to stop the Espheni from creating it, or at least, slow it down.

Over the last several days, Tom and Weaver worked with Cochise to come up with a plan to stop the Overlords plan. The weapon was apparently a type of beamer, but larger and its guns were bigger and designed to destroy an entire city with only shot. They quickly learned the main factory building the weapon was actually on the other side of the country, which meant that the 2nd Mass was too far away to do anything about it. However, there was another, smaller base that was building the gun that would fire the bombs only a two day drive away from Chinatown.

It was then decided that the Volm would travel to the base where the weapon, dubbed a mega-beamer, was being mantled and destroy it while the 2nd Mass would attack the base that was building the mega-beamer's gun. While the idea seemed good, they then came to another problem. What if the Espheni simply tried again to build the weapon? That was where Lexi came in.

Though neither Anne nor Tom liked the idea of their daughter entering the warzone, Anne, having kept her from it the entire four months they were separated, and both of them continuing that for the next month, but the situation called for it. They needed to know if the weapon was destroyed, would the Espheni would build it again, and if they did, how to stop them. Normally, Ben would be the one to try and get into an Overlord's head, but since he needed to be allowed in and was controlled by the alien in the process, they decided that it might be better to let Lexi try.

It was just a theory that Kadar had come up with, that since she had Espheni DNA, she could connect with the Overlords and find the answer to their questions much more easily. Anne and Tom were both against it, but Lexi happened to be coming into the room and gladly volunteered to help. Her parents tried to dissuade her, but she insisted, having been feeling useless hiding in their camp. After a long discussion about it, one that included a bit of yelling, they finally agreed to let her try.

"I still think that we should go after one of the bigger bases. There's a lot more skitter scum to destroy there than there are here." Pope complained as he stared at the base a few metres in front of them. Tom rolled his eyes at the former criminal's comment. He had been complaining about how easy this mission supposedly was going to be ever since he found out about it and Tom was struggling to not lose his patience.

"We aren't strong enough yet to take that base down Pope. And it's too far away for us to get there in time. Besides, Cochise and the Volm are taking care of that one." Tom calmly explained, keeping his eyes on the base that they were preparing to attack.

"Right, our trusty allies the Volm." Pope remarked sarcastically. Again, Tom rolled his eyes, but paid him no more attention. Instead, he turned to look at his daughter who was lying on the ground beside him.

"Are you sure you're up for this Lexi?" Tom questioned, still not sure if bringing her along was a good idea. He and Anne had argued about it for the entire week as they planned the mission, but every time they brought it up to Lexi, she insisted that they involve her in the attack.

"For the hundredth time Dad, yes, I am. I know what I'm doing." Lexi insisted, hoping that her slightly frustrated and annoyed tone masked how nervous and scared she actually was. While she had been wanting to be more involved in the war, it wasn't until now did she start thinking of all the things that could go wrong, and that she realized she was about to walk into a fire fight.

"It's okay if you're a little nervous. It is your very first mission after all." Tom told her, putting a hand on his daughter's back to comfort her. While her tone of voice almost had him fooled, the nervous look in her eyes gave her away.

"I'm fine. I'm more than ready for this." Lexi assured him, her voice gentler than before. She knew her Dad was just worried about her, but she could do this, she knew she could. At that moment, they heard the gunfire coming from the other side of the base from the other 2nd Mass soldiers, signalling to the group under the brush that it was time to sneak inside.

"Okay." Tom replied, still looking a bit unsure about letting her into the field, but ignored it, "Let's go."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Lexi snuck inside the building between her father and older brother, Pope following behind them. One of the conditions her parents gave when they finally agreed to let her come on this mission was that she stayed with Ben and their Dad so she would be safe. Another condition was that the minute they found they found the Overlord and Lexi found the information they needed, she got out of the building and away from the fight. She was to head down the road about half a mile where her Mom and some other soldiers were waiting.

As they made their way through the building, the four came into a large room, filled with work tables and what appeared to be Espheni tools and technology. However, there was no sign of anyone in the room. Nobody was sure if there would still be any aliens in the building due to the fact that the Berserkers and other 2nd Mass soldiers were attacking from outside, but they had to be prepared, just in case.

"Looks like we're in the clear. Let's plant those charges." Tom quietly ordered. Besides keeping Lexi safe as she looked for and interrogated the Overlord they knew was at the base, that was what Tom, Ben, and Pope were tasked to do.

"Stay close." Tom added to his daughter. Lexi nodded, and was about to follow him, Ben, and Pope out of the room when she felt shivers down her spine, and somehow, she knew that there was someone here.

Slowly, she turned around, not even aware that her Dad, brother, and Pope were now gone. Lexi scanned the room again, looking for who or what it was that made her feel uneasy. It was then something caught her eye in the corner of the room. Whoever it was, must've seen that they had her attention, because they moved out of the shadows and into the light. It was an Overlord.

_Alexis Mason. We have been wondering when you would reappear_, Lexi heard the Overlord's voice even though his mouth didn't mouth at all. She wasn't that surprised though, she had known for a while that the Overlords and the skitters spoke telepathically, and if they needed to talk to the humans, they spoke through someone with a harness on, or with spikes in their back.

Lexi first glanced around the room to see if her Dad, Ben, and Pope were still with her, but when she saw that she was alone, she stood straight, head held high, and braced herself for what she knew was probably going to be a difficult challenge. If Ben was right about how hard it was to interrogate an unwilling Overlord, that is. As she stared right into the alien's eyes, she felt her mind connect with his and mentally said, _Here I am. Now you're going to answer some questions for me._

She sensed some slight surprise and confusion from the Overlord when she said, but she ignored it as she forced herself farther into his mind, looking for answers to the several questions she had. Since the Espheni clearly wasn't expecting that, she had a few seconds to get in without hitting any resistance from him, but once he realized what she was doing, he tried to block her, tried to keep her from learning anything. It was too late though, she already learned the answer to the question which the 2nd Mass needed. The aliens were planning on making more than one mega-beamer. Destroying the one they were building now wouldn't stop them.

Even though she got the answer to the question that she needed, that the 2nd Mass needed, the human/Espheni hybrid wasn't satisfied. She had more questions, and she was just as determined to get them as she was with the one about the mega-beamer.

Sensing the young woman's strength and determination, the Overlord tried harder to block her, but that only made Lexi more determined. She searched through his mind for her one of her other questions. Were the Espheni planning on creating anything worse than the mega-beamer that the 2nd Mass needed to be aware of?

Flashes of rundown buildings, people screaming, something that felt extremely powerful, the rundown buildings burning ran through Lexi's mind, immediately followed by the word _failure_. At that word, Lexi frowned slightly, but was pleased. It had to mean that whatever else the aliens were planning before didn't work. So the hybrid stopped her search for that, started another, one that was far more personal.

Lexi pulled the memory of Hal, more specifically, his face, using it to guide her through the Overlord's mind. Ever since Ben suggested that he talk to the rebel skitters, Lexi had the idea of interrogating the Espheni for information about her oldest brother. And though her Mom and Dad shut her down on that, not wanting her to get involved, the idea never left her mind. She had hoped that when her Dad decided to get answer from Karen, that she could go with them to help, but they said no again. Even though she only had spent about two weeks with him before they were all separated, and she wasn't as close to him as the rest of her family, he was still her brother and she was wanted to know if he really was dead, just like her Dad and other brothers. Now, she had her chance.

The Overlord's mind weakened slightly, confused as to why she was focusing so much of her energy on searching through his mind for information on the one person, before he again tried to block her out, but the moment of weakness was all she needed. Within seconds, she got her answer as the Overlord's memories, thoughts, and knowledge flooded into her mind. However, that seemed to be the final straw for the Espheni.

The hybrid thought she was getting the better of the Overlord, thought that she was overpowering him. She immediately learned at that moment, that she was wrong. He had been somewhat letting her into his mind, but no longer wanted to do so. Whatever he was trying to learn by doing that, he had learned enough and stopped trying to block her. Instead, he forced her out and forced himself into her own mind. He was so strong, and it hurt so much, that Lexi fell to her knees and screamed.

Lexi didn't know what exactly the Overlord was doing, what he was trying to gain from her, or how long it lasted, but it all stopped when a gunshot rang out and the Overlord fell limply to the ground.

"Alexis!" Lexi frowned slightly as she heard her Dad yell out her name, but that was about all she could bring herself to do. It was already hard enough to not completely fall to the ground as she rested on her knees. Only a few seconds later though, she heard footsteps coming straight for her at a fast pace. Then, hands were on her face, causing her to finally open her eyes and see her Dad was kneeling down in front of her.

"Lexi? Are you alright?" Tom asked, growing more and more worried as his daughter remained silent and looked completely dazed. When she didn't say anything, he practically ordered, "Answer me."

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Lexi whispered, slightly nodding her head, though she was pretty sure her father knew that she wasn't being entirely truthful. Tom sighed in relief before wrapping his arms around her and helped her get to her feet.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Her father said as he started leading her towards the door, which was a good thing because Lexi was fairly certain that if he wasn't helping her, she would've fallen back to the floor. It was only then she noticed that Ben was standing by the exit with his gun tightly in his hand, standing guard.

"But, what about the weapon?" Lexi wondered, looking at her Dad curiously.

"Don't worry. Pope and his Berserkers have already planted the charges and are just waiting for our signal before they blow this place." Tom assured the young woman. The two then quickly reached Ben and without another word, they made their way out of the building towards safety.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Lexi took another sip of water from the plastic bottle her mother gave her a few minutes ago before she put the lid back on and placed it beside her on the edge of the truck where she was sitting, then lifted her hand to rub her throbbing temples. After she, her Dad, and Ben got out of the building, Pope hit the detonator and blew the place up, killing the rest of the skitters and destroying the Mechs that were there. They then traveled down the road where her Mom and the other soldiers were waiting. Pope's Berserkers and the other soldiers that attacked the base followed behind them.

Once they got there, her Mom ran out to meet them, filled with worry over her daughter, her only living child. Lexi did her best to assure her mother that she was fine, but she refused to believe it until she gave her a thorough check over. Even after she did that though, finding nothing wrong except for the intense headache Lexi was feeling due to how she forced herself into the Overlord's head for information and how he pushed back, Anne still ordered her to sit down and take it easy until they got back to Chinatown where she could check her over again.

"Overlords sure give you a headache, don't they?" Ben remarked as he walked over to his little sister. Lexi dropped her hand from her head and give her older brother a small smile as she replied, "Yeah, no kidding."

"Don't worry, it'll pass." Ben assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Lexi continued to smile at him, but before she could respond, she spotted their Dad walking over to them.

"How are you feeling?" Tom asked once he reached his daughter and son.

"I'm okay. Head hurts a little, but I'll be fine." Lexi answered with a smile. Tom wrapped his arms around his daughter and pulled her in for a comforting side hug. Lexi returned the embrace, letting her head rest on his chest for a minute. Even though she didn't actually do any fighting, she still felt completely drained and a bit in shock over everything that happened.

Tom held Lexi tightly in his arms, beginning to regret that he let her come on this mission. While she might look, think, and act like a late teenager, she was still under a year old. She was still his little girl, one that he had hoped to keep safe and innocent from the war. He had hoped to do the same thing with his sons, but he quickly failed at that. Though she had put on a brave smile, he could tell that she was a bit in shock. Tom pulled away though when he saw Anne and Matt approach them.

"Are you feeling better sweetie?" Anne questioned once she reached her daughter's side while Matt went to stand by Ben, who had backed away from Lexi in order to give Anne room.

"Yeah, I am." Lexi replied, giving her mother a smile.

"Good." Anne responded, though she still looked a bit worried. Before anyone could say or do anything else, Weaver came over to them and asked, "Did you find anything about the weapon?"

"A little bit, but I also found something else, something more important." Lexi answered, though she did her heard to look at her father instead of Weaver.

"What?" Tom prompted his daughter to continue. Maggie, who was standing nearby, walked closer so she could hear the conversation clearly, curious about what Lexi had found, more specifically, if she found anything about Hal.

"Karen, she and two other Overlords, along with that one, were a part of something, something worse than this weapon." Lexi informed them, causing everyone around her to look at each other in fear and worry. Though the 2nd Mass had been reunited and started attacking the aliens again, they were still nowhere near the strength they were in Charleston. They weren't sure if they could handle something worse than the mega-beamer that the Espheni were trying to build.

"What? What is it?" Tom demanded as he looked back down at his daughter, desperate to know if they had another threat to deal with.

"I didn't get that far. I think they scrapped it though." Lexi replied. She was about to tell her Dad what else she found, but Weaver spoke up before she could.

"Okay, that's good to know." The Colonel commented, lifting his gaze over to Tom, who nodded in response.

"I also found something else." Lexi then added, still a little unsure if whether she should bring it up, but ultimately deciding to tell him about what she found about her oldest brother. She knew her Dad would want to know.

"I asked about Hal." The minute she said her oldest brother's name, she had everyone's attention, then she continued, "Dad, they have no proof Hal is dead."

For a long moment, everyone was silent as they processed what she just revealed. Finally, Tom said in a quiet, shocked yet hopeful voice, "What?"

"The place where they were holding him was destroyed in a massive fire and they assumed that no one survived, but they don't know if everyone there did die." Lexi explained, hoping that she had done the right thing by telling her Dad and brothers about Hal. While the odds of Hal surviving the fire still weren't good, she still believed that they would want to know. Though she didn't know her oldest brother that well, from what she had heard about him, she knew that he was a fighter and that if anyone could have survived that, it would be him.

"He could still be alive." Matt responded with a quiet voice though his eyes were filled with hope.

"We don't know that for sure." Weaver quickly pointed out. While he too was glad that there was indeed a chance that his best friend's son could still be alive, he knew that there was still a bigger chance that he was not.

"I think we do." Maggie joined the conversation, which caused everyone to look over at her curiously, just now noticing that she was there.

"What?" Anne questioned, not at all understanding what the blonde woman was talking about.

"That's why he was so familiar to me, that night when I went into the river. It's why even though I can't fully remember, I knew that I knew who it was." Maggie mumbled to herself, though her voice was loud enough for the others to hear.

Ever since that day she fell into the river, she felt haunted by the masked person's eyes and voice. Most of her nights when she'd try to sleep, she'd see those eyes or hear the person's voice as clearly as if he was standing right beside her. Maggie knew that there was something so familiar about it, but she couldn't remember. It was beginning to drive her nuts. Now though, she knew why.

"Who?" Tom's question pulled her out of her reverie.

"Isn't it obvious? The masked man is Hal." Maggie told them, causing the group to feel another round of shock, making it clear that no one had thought about that possibility before.

"Maggie," Anne immediately started to object. While she wanted to believe that Hal was indeed alive, she'd rather be more realistic then encourage what was most likely a false hope.

"Think about it. The first time he showed up, he saved Ben. The second time, he saved Matt. The third time, he saved me. What do the three of us all have in common?" Maggie questioned, hoping that the others could see her logic. Still seeing the look of disbelief on Anne's face, she added, "I heard his voice Anne. I saw his eyes. It's Hal."

"It could just be a coincidence." Anne pointed out. After all, Maggie and Ben were regular fighters, them getting into trouble was a fairly common appearance. And while Matt didn't go on as many missions as his brother and Maggie, he was still learning and therefore was more likely to make mistakes which could get him into trouble.

"Maybe, but I do think we should find out who this person is, whether it's Hal or not." Tom replied. Though his voice and words may have sounded logical, it was clear from the light in his eyes that he was now hoping that the masked man was indeed his son, and nothing was going to stop him from finding out if it was true.

**AN** – Again, sorry if this chapter was a bit rushed. Honestly, I just got to the point where I just wanted this chapter over with. I hope you guys did enjoy it though. I will do my best to make sure the following chapters aren't so rushed. See you all next time!


	11. A Hope Fulfilled

**Disclaimer** – I own nothing.

**Enjoy!**

It didn't take long for word about the possibility of Hal Mason being alive and the idea that he was the mysterious masked man that had been showing up on missions to spread throughout Chinatown. Since the conversation had happened while fellow 2nd Mass soldiers were walking around the Mason family and close friends, it was very easy for them to overhear what they were talking about. Only two days after coming back into the part of the city where the human resistance group had taken up residence, everyone in Chinatown knew about what Lexi learned.

Even if no one did overhear, it would've been obvious that something had happened, that something was going on due to the actions of Tom Mason. If Anne and Weaver thought he had a strange obsession with the man who had saved his two youngest sons and Maggie before, they found it was nowhere near as bad as it was now. The leader was constantly going out of the safety of the camp, searching for any sign of the masked person, and had every patrol, and team scavenging for more food, supplies, and weapons report directly to him once they returned to Chinatown.

"This is getting out of hand." Pope remarked to Weaver as he stood by the edge of the courtyard though he kept his eyes on Tom Mason with his sons, the three of them going out again to see if they could find any trace of the masked man. It had been almost a week since their latest attack on the Espheni, and while Pope knew what the leader was hoping to find, he was a bit surprised at how far Tom was willing to go.

Weaver looked up from the files he was looking over at one of the tables by the courtyard to see what Pope was looking at. When he realized what Pope was talking about, he replied, "Maybe, but you can't blame them. If it really is Hal, then they will stop at nothing until they find him."

"And if it isn't?" Pope asked, turning around to face the Colonel. Before Weaver could answer though, Pope continued, "If Hal really is dead, and they find that out by finding that the masked man isn't Hal, it's going to crush them."

"They're all stronger than they look." Weaver somewhat protested, knowing firsthand just how strong the Mason's could be.

After Tom stepped onto the Espheni spaceship roughly two years ago, they soon all believed he was dead. Despite that though, his sons seemed to grow stronger from that, when most children would've been lost. Hal and Ben especially grew stronger, they stepped up, became more than soldiers. Weaver soon considered them his most effective and strongest fighters. With a little more experience, he had no doubt they would soon be among the leaders of the 2nd Mass.

Hal's apparent death however, along with the possibility of him actually still being alive, had clearly been messing with their heads. Even if Tom's oldest son was dead though, Weaver was still certain that the rest of the Mason family would power through and grow stronger just like before. Or at least, he hoped they would.

"It's becoming almost pathetic that Mason can't seem to get it through his head that his boy is dead. I mean, it sucks and all, but he has to know he's grasping at straws." Pope told him.

"Pope, what would you do if you thought your son was out there?" Weaver wondered, turning the situation back on the former criminal. He knew through conversations with Pope, and from Tom that the leader of the Berserkers had a son and a daughter before the invasion happened, and that he had no idea what happened to them.

Pope had not been expecting Weaver to ask him that. Ever since the invasion happened and he learned kids were being taken by the skitters, he just assumed that they were dead. It was easier that way, but for the sake of argument, he thought about the possibility that his son was alive and out there before he finally answered, "I don't know. All I do know is that it's better to believe the worst. Because if you find out you're right, then you're no worse off. But if you hope for the best and find out you're wrong, it breaks your heart."

Weaver stared at him for a long moment, but couldn't think of an answer. He knew that Pope did have a bit of a point there. After the death of his daughter, and the disappearance of his ex-wife and Jeanne, he lost all hope of ever finding them. For a while, he did assume they were dead, it was just easier. Sure, there was that bit of desperate hope that they were alive, but he had no hope whatsoever that he would ever see them again.

"If you ask me, Tom should just accept that Hal's dead and stop this hunt. If it is Hal, he'll show himself sooner or later." Pope told him with a quieter voice when Weaver stayed quiet.

Weaver continued to stare at him for a moment long took before responding, "That's probably why no one's asked you."

Without another word, the Colonel grabbed the files, stood up, and walked away, leaving the former criminal to stand in slight shock before he turned around in time to see Tom Mason walk through the gate and out into the city.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Though Weaver was worried about his friend, Anne was worried about him more. She had been ever since Tom, Ben, and Maggie came back to Chinatown with the news from Karen that Hal was dead. While she knew that everyone responds to grief differently, and went through the stages of grief in different times, Tom remained in the first stage, denial, for much longer than was healthy. And now, with the possibility of Hal being alive and the theory that this masked person was him, that denial became so complete and strong that it led Tom to obsession.

The doctor did understand why the man was so desperate to find any shred of proof that Hal was alive. After all, no parent wanted to believe their child was dead. The fact that Karen had lied to Tom before about Anne and Lexi being dead didn't help either. It was one of the reasons that she had kept her mouth shut over the last few days, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could stay quiet. The worry she felt over the man she loved was getting worse and worse.

After Tom left that day to again, look around their small camp for any sign of the masked man, Anne did her best to distract herself. Though it had been quiet around Chinatown since they destroyed the Espheni base where they were building part of the mega-beamer, she was worried about what all could happen to him, especially since he went alone. She stayed up late when he didn't return after dark, but ended of falling asleep as she waited.

Anne didn't realize that she had even fallen asleep until she felt the mattress dipped by her feet and heard the sound of paper rustling, followed by someone letting out a sigh. Slowly, she opened her eyes and found the man she had been waiting for sitting on the end of the bed, holding what looked like a map in his hands.

"Tom?" The former history looked up and over at her with a slightly shocked expression. He had clearly not noticed that she had woken up.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Tom immediately apologized as Anne sat upright.

"It's okay. What are you doing?" The doctor asked, leaning forward to see what he was doing.

"Marking off places we've already searched for the masked man, that way we won't search the same place twice. That's just a waste of time." Tom explained, turning back to face the map.

Anne stared at him for a moment before she said, "Tom, look at me."

Tom looked over his shoulder at her, and seeing the serious expression, grew worried and wondered, "What's wrong?"

"I'm getting really worried about you." Anne told him.

"Why? I'm fine." Tom responded, completely confused as to why she was worried about. His son was alive and nearby. They just had to find him.

"Tom, you know the odds of this person being Hal are extremely slim, don't you?" Anne questioned, staring straight into his eyes.

"Maybe. But that doesn't mean I can't find out, does it?" Tom wondered with a bit of a defensive tone now that he knew where this discussion was going. Anne sighed, then stood up off the bed, walked over and sat down beside him.

Once she was seated, she reached over and grabbed his hand before saying, "Tom, I know you want this person to be Hal, I understand that, believe me, I do. But I think you need to prepare yourself, in case its not."

"He's not dead Anne." Tom insisted, pulling his hand away from her so he could turn his attention back to the map.

"Tom," Anne started, putting her hand on his shoulder, but Tom immediately shrugged it off, dropped the map, and stood up.

"No! He's not dead, okay? Karen was lying, there's no way Hal is dead!" Tom shouted. Anne flinched, but when he turned around to face, she saw the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

"Tom?" Anne whispered, standing up herself so she could walk over to him.

"He can't be dead Anne, he can't be." Tom replied with a quiet, yet still insistent voice. As Anne reached him, he walked back towards the bed.

"Please, talk to me Tom." Anne begged, trying to understand what was going through the man's head, wishing he would open up to her. For a moment, Tom stayed silent, but the doctor waited patiently for him to say or do something. Finally, he sighed and sat down on the foot of the mattress like he had been only minutes earlier.

"I wasn't there that much, when Hal was born. I was finishing up getting my degree when he was born, Rebecca was working. When she went on maternity leave, I took a job to help get us money to support our family. The only time I ever really was at home was to sleep. There were times I swear that he had no idea who I was, even if he was only a baby." Tom started, then paused for a moment. Though it was clear he was trying to stay in control, Anne could hear the pain and shame in his voice, causing her to move to sit beside him once again. This time, he didn't move away from her.

"And when I finished university, and got a job teaching, I tried to be there more for him, but, it was hard. He was so much like his Mom, spent so much time with her, I couldn't connect with him. When it seemed that I finally did, Rebecca was pregnant with Ben." Tom paused once again, knowing that what he was about to say was probably another major part of why his oldest was so distant from him.

"I didn't want to do the same thing I did with Hal with Ben. After he was born, I tried my best to be around as much as I could." Tom then turned to face the mother of his only daughter and continued, "You know, Ben is a lot like me, connecting with him was so much easier, still is, but I think, I think that Hal could see that and he just clung even more to Rebecca's side."

"For so long, I tried to, to have a better relationship with Hal, but it was as though there was this wall that I couldn't get past." Tom said, turning his head to look back down at the ground. Anne put her hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. When he had looked over at her, she saw that he was regaining his composure a bit, but she could still tell from his tone that he was still struggling with revealing all of this.

"Not long before the war started, I missed one of Hal's lacrosse games, even though I promised I'd be there. And that wasn't the first time that happened either." Tom admitted, sounding more ashamed of himself than Anne had ever heard him sounding before. She squeezed his shoulder a little tighter as he continued, "Rebecca was waiting for me when I got home and, she was mad. She said that Hal wasn't even disappointed I didn't show up because he now expected me not to. She said that he's a senior, that he's going to be gone soon and it's going to be a lot harder to have a relationship with him then, than it is now, so I better fix it before he's gone."

Anne felt her heart break as she heard Tom's voice turn into a croak at the last few words he said, making it clear that he was struggling not to cry, struggling not to completely break down. Any bit of composure he had gotten was now completely gone. Anne moved lowered her hand from his shoulder and rubbed his back instead, waiting for him to continue. When she heard a stifled sob, she said, "Tom,"

"He can't be gone Anne. I've missed so much of his life already, by my own doing. I can't," Tom's voice broke, then turned to look at her, letting he see the tears running down his cheeks, "he can't be dead. He just can't be. I can't lose him."

Anne immediately pulled Tom into her arms, and held him as tightly as she could while he cried. He quickly returned the embrace and burrowed his head in her shoulder, his tears beginning to soak her shirt. Anne didn't care about that though, she just continued to hold him while he cried. While she held him, the doctor looked up and made a silent wish, a silent prayer that Hal was indeed alive.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom slept a little better that night than he had been lately. Ever since he arrived at Chinatown with Matt and learned that Hal was still missing, his nights were always restless, and it got worse and worse as time passed. After Karen told him that Hal was dead, sleep basically became non-existent. He was pretty sure that the only reason he slept last night was due to the fact that he was exhausted, not just from the weeks of little to no sleep, but also from his crying the night before.

All along, he knew that it was only a matter of time before either Anne or Weaver confronted him on his obsessive behaviour. He knew that he was worrying them, but he didn't care. Lexi had found there was a chance his son could still be alive, and Maggie finally realized why the masked man was so familiar to her. Tom had to jump on that chance. He had to find out the truth, had to find out if Hal was still alive. Anything else, any logical thoughts or questions were completely pushed out of his mind.

Last night though, his exhaustion, his desperation, and his disappointment from failing to find any sign of the masked person came to a head. So when Anne brought up the topic, and refused to stop, his walls completely crumbled. He finally told her about how guilty he felt about the distance between him and his oldest son, and about how he just couldn't accept the thought of Hal being dead. Not yet anyways.

Besides asking if he was okay when they both woke up, Anne didn't say anything about what took place last night, and Tom was beyond grateful for that. He didn't think he could take talking about it all again so soon. The couple simply got up, and got ready for the day ahead of them. Anne was heading back into the infirmary to help Lourdes and Tom was going to meet with Weaver to discuss steps that needed to be taken to keep their new home secure, especially if Lexi was right and the Espheni were creating more mega-beamers.

As he was making his way towards the office he and Weaver set up, he saw Ben, Matt, and Lexi sitting down at one of the tables in the cafeteria area. Since the buildings around were mostly apartment buildings along with small stores and some small restaurants, there wasn't enough room for even half of the 2nd Mass to have an eating area inside. So, just like they did when they were on the road, they ate outside.

"Morning." Tom greeted his children as he approached the table they were sitting at.

"Morning Dad." Ben replied as he, Matt, and Lexi both raised their heads to look at their father.

"Did you find anything yesterday?" Matt quickly asked, eager and hopeful. The youngest Mason son was just as desperate to find his oldest brother, and was also in denial that Hal was dead. Part of Tom felt guilty for somewhat encouraging the idea that Hal was alive, especially considering that the odds were that he wasn't. And if they did find out he was dead, Matt would be completely crushed, but since Tom himself was so sure that Hal was alive, he felt like he would be a hypocrite if he told Matt to brace himself in case they found that Karen was telling the truth.

"No, but at least we've narrowed down where he could potentially be." Tom finally answered. Matt's face fell a bit when he heard that, clearly disappointed, but he then nodded, knowing that there were still several places his brother could be.

Tom was about to say, 'see you all later', then continue to head to meet up with Weaver, but it was then that those keeping guard at the gate started firing their guns at something beyond the barrier that surrounded their camp in Chinatown, getting everyone's attention.

"Skitters incoming!" Tector shouted over the sound of gunshots, taking aim and firing at the alien attackers as well.

Tom, along with Ben, Matt, and several others who were outside in courtyard and cafeteria, immediately grabbed their weapons and ran to join the fight. Lexi though, got out of the way. Even though she had gone on a mission with the 2nd Mass, she still didn't know how to shoot a gun, or how to fight at all.

As soon as Tom reached the barrier, he took aim and started firing at the attacking skitters. There seemed to be hundreds of them, no matter how many they killed, more just kept coming. As the 2nd Mass fighters continued killing the aliens, determined to protect their new home, the skitters still kept coming. He was starting to wonder if there even was an end of the skitters, or at least, if they would be able to finish them before they ran out of bullets.

Tom kept firing, even though he was sure he was nearly out of bullets. As he kept firing though, he noticed something strange. The skitters in the far back were falling down to the ground. They were being shot, they were being killed. The problem with that though, was that they were too far away for anyone on the barrier to be hitting them. There was someone else shooting them. It only took him a minute to see a person that was shooting them, hiding behind the corner of one of the buildings. A person that happened to be wearing a mask.

Without a second thought, Tom jumped off the barrier and ran out of the protection of Chinatown, ignoring both Weaver and Ben calling out to them. He darted into the closest alley to get away from the skitters before he circled around the area to get to the place where the masked man was hiding. Just as he got there, he saw the person already leaving, apparently, having seen him coming. Tom wasn't about to let him go though. He pointed his gun at the person's back and cocked it, the sound echoing loudly enough that the person stopped in his tracks.

"Turn around, and take the mask off." Tom ordered in a harsh voice, keeping his gun pointed right at the man's head. When he still didn't move, Tom told him, "I'm not going to tell you again, turn around and take off your ski mask."

"You really going to shoot?" The man asked after another few seconds of silence. Tom slowly lowered his gun, even before the man lifted his hand, pulled off the mask and turned around. Despite how much time had passed, Tom would've recognized that voice anywhere.

There, standing in front of him, only a few feet away, was his oldest son, the person he had been looking for, for weeks. Tom completely lowered his weapon as his son's name escaped his lips, "Hal."

Hal Mason stared at his father, slowly giving him a smile, but it quickly dropped from his face as his narrowed on something behind the older man. He raised his own handgun and said, "You might wanna duck."

"What?" Tom asked completely confused, though he turned around anyways. His eyes widened at the sight of a skitter charging at him from the side of the building. The former history professor ducked and took several steps away so he could take aim, but his son beat him to the punch. Tom watched as the skitter fell dead to the ground, before looking back over to his son, only to find him gone.

"Hal!"

**AN** – You guys didn't really think I actually killed Hal Mason, did you? So, I'm sorry if the last couple of chapters, including this one, felt a bit rushed, I just had no idea what else to really do or put in, because it either would make the chapters too long, or it will be addressed in later chapters. Also, I had a harder time writing these chapters because they were missing my favourite character. Now that he's back though, hopefully they will get better. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. See you all next time!


	12. Reunited

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! So glad you like the last chapter! Hope you like this one as well!

**Enjoy!**

Hal Mason ran as though his life depended on it. He had to get away, had to put enough distance between him and his father so he would have enough time to get to the place he had been staying, grab his stuff and get out of town. He had been justifying his decision to stay as close to his family as possible by keeping his presence a secret, or at least, keep them from knowing it was him. It was safer that way, but now, now his Dad knew, had seen him. He had to leave, had to keep his family, Maggie, and the 2nd Mass safe.

Once Hal got to his 'home', which was just an old, rundown, two-story hotel, he ran up to the top floor and into the room he claimed. His bag sat on the small table in the far corner, still pretty much packed and ready to go. Hal had stayed prepared in case he needed to leave in a hurry. The few things that weren't in his bag that he still had to pack, which was just some more food and water, were in the same place where he left them. It was a simple matter of putting them in his bag and leaving.

It only took two minutes, if that, for Hal to get all of his stuff together but apparently, that was two minutes too long. As he was about to head back downstairs so he could leave, he heard the sound of people talking, and it was getting louder, meaning whoever was outside, was coming closer. Hal was about to go to the window and climb down the fire escape when he heard the front door open, and stayed completely still once he heard his father's and Weaver's voices.

"Tom!" Hal heard Weaver yell from downstairs. Slowly, he walked closer to the door to his room and listened in on the conversation that was happening downstairs.

"What?" Hal heard his Dad ask the Colonel.

"Just think for a moment! Are you sure about what you saw?" Weaver then questioned.

"I know what I saw. It was Hal." Hal felt his chest tighten at his father's desperate tone. It tightened even more when he heard his Dad say, "You don't believe me."

"I think that you've barely been sleeping, working way too hard, and looking for any clue that you can find that Hal is alive. That can play tricks on a person's mind." Weaver replied. Hal couldn't take it anymore. He knew that his family was suffering because of him letting them think he was dead, and though he knew his Dad was trying to find him, he didn't realize that his Dad had figured out that he was the masked man. And now, he knew for a fact, that his Dad wasn't going to stop until he knew for sure. So it was either let him know that he was alive and here, or leave, which Hal knew he wouldn't be able to do. Not now, not when they knew the truth.

"I know what I saw." Hal heard his Dad tell Weaver as he slowly walked out of the room and towards the stairs, then heard his Dad say, "I'm not going crazy."

"I never said you were." Weaver defended himself. Hal continued walking quietly, then stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down. There at the bottom on the first floor, right by the first flight of stairs, was his Dad and the Colonel. Quietly, Hal started making his way down towards them.

"You're acting like it." His Dad then accused Weaver, who was about to respond when Hal reached the last flight of stairs and said, "You kinda are Weaver."

The two adults snapped their heads over to look at him so fast that Hal was a little worried they gave themselves whiplash. They stared at him in complete shock as the young man continued walking down towards them and added, "Really think that it isn't possible for me to still be alive?"

"Hal." Tom whispered his son's name the second he saw him come down the stairs. Even though he had seen him only minutes before, saw that he was alive, he was still somewhat surprised that his son was alive and here.

"Hi Dad." Hal said with a smile, climbing down the last step. As soon as he was on the ground floor, his Dad reached for him, and pulled him into his arms, holding him as tightly as he could. Hal tensed for a minute, a little thrown by his Dad's actions. He knew he shouldn't be, of course after months apart and thinking that he was dead he would hug him, but Hal actually had a hard time remembering the last time he was hugged. After a second though, he wrapped his arms around his Dad and returned the embrace.

"I knew you were still alive." Tom told Hal, not wanting to let go of him at all. Hal chuckled slightly before he said, "I'm not that easy to get rid of."

"Karen said you were dead." Weaver suddenly chimed in, getting both Tom's and Hal's attention. Reluctantly, Tom pulled away from Hal so he could look over at his friend, though he kept both of his hands holding onto his son's arms, still unwilling to let him go.

"She was lying, obviously." Tom stated with a matter-of-fact tone. He didn't really understand why Weaver appeared so stunned. Sure, he knew the Colonel thought that Hal was dead, but it wasn't the first time Karen had lied about someone being dead, so why was he so surprised?

"Well, not in her mind. She does actually think I'm dead." Hal replied, and waited until both adults were looking back at him before he added, "And if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why does it matter?" Weaver immediately asked, now staring at Hal with a slightly suspicious expression while Tom appeared to be confused as well.

Hal stayed quiet for a few seconds, trying to think of a way to explain without actually telling his Dad and Weaver everything that had happened to him during the last five months, then finally answered, "Let's just say that that is a long story."

"But, why didn't you let us know that you're alive?" Tom then wondered, growing even more confused now as he started thinking over everything that had happened lately, now that he knew for a fact that Hal was alive and had been near them for almost an entire month.

"I thought it was safer for you guys if I wasn't with you." Hal replied with a sincere tone, though he still didn't give any details whatsoever.

"Because of Karen?" His Dad surmised, trying to put the pieces together though he still looked a bit puzzled by the little information the young man was giving him.

"Something like that." Hal confirmed. When he saw that his Dad looked still a bit confused, he repeated, "Look, Dad, it's a very long story."

Tom stared at him for a long moment, then smiled and said, "Whatever the story is, I'm just beyond grateful that you're alive and in one piece."

Hal returned the smile, grateful that his Dad wasn't going to keep pushing for answers, at least for now. His Dad then pulled him back into another hug, and though Hal was still slightly surprised, he wasn't as taken aback by the action, and was quicker to return the embrace than he was last time. The hug also didn't last as long as the earlier one as his Dad pulled away and said, "Come on, let's get you back to the 2nd Mass. Your brothers are going to be thrilled to know you're alive."

Hal immediately froze when he heard his Dad say that. He hadn't thought any of this through at all. There was a reason he stayed away from his family, a reason he let his family believe he was dead. And yet, the defenses he put up to keep himself away from them, broke when he heard his Dad's voice. It was why he had come down to let his Dad and Weaver know for a fact that he was alive and here, but he didn't at all think about what would happen after he did that. He should've realized his Dad would want him to come and rejoin the 2nd Mass and his family.

Though he didn't say anything, his silence was enough to worry his Dad, who then said, "What? You are coming back with us, right?"

Hal stared at his Dad's hopeful yet worried eyes and answered without thinking, "If you want me to."

"Of course I want you to." Tom replied with a smile, though his tone was a bit stunned, as though he didn't believe or understand why his son would think that he wouldn't want him to come home.

"Okay, let me just go grab my stuff." Hal told him. He then turned to head back up the stairs, but stopped and turned back when he heard footsteps right on his heel. Right behind him, stood his Dad.

"I'll be right back." Hal said, quickly realizing that his Dad was planning on following him.

"Are you kidding? I'm not letting you out of my sight." Tom responded with a serious tone. Hal stared at him for a few seconds, then shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay."

The two made their way up the stairs while Weaver stayed by the door, waiting for the father and son to return. Quietly, Hal led his father into the room he had been staying in ever since he arrived in Chinatown. Without saying anything, he headed over to the table where he had left his bag and continued packing his belongings.

"This is where you've been staying?" Tom questioned as he looked around the room. It was pretty empty, even for a hotel room. It hardly looked like anyone had been staying here at all, even for a night. The only response Hal gave was a quick nod of his head.

"How long have you been here?" Tom then asked. Hal slowed in his movements, beginning to feel even more guilty than he already was for what he put his family through.

"About a month." Hal answered quietly, keeping his back to his father so he wouldn't have to see his expression.

"Why didn't you just come back?" Tom wondered. Though he had basically just said that none of it mattered, he couldn't help but wonder why Hal had stayed away, why he wanted Karen to think that he was dead.

"It would've looked weird, you know?" Hal replied, turning around to face his Dad, leaning against the table slightly, "Me being gone for so long only to magically show up out of nowhere."

Tom couldn't deny that. Already, he was curious how the 2nd Mass was going to react when they returned to the camp, but that wasn't as important to him as the fact that they had been led to believe his son had died. Lowering his head to look at the floor, Tom said, "We, we thought you were dead."

"Yeah, I know." Tom's head snapped upwards when he heard his son's revelation. Hal quickly explained how he knew what his family had thought, "I was watching you guys far more than you realized."

"If you knew that, why didn't you come home? Why didn't you tell us you were alive?" Tom stammered out his questions, becoming more confused than before now he thought about it more.

"It, seemed safer, for you to think that I was dead." Hal replied, this time, being the one who lowered his head.

"Safer? For who, from what?" Tom asked, his frustration and confusion seeping into his voice.

"For everyone." Hal answered, with a slightly defensive tone. He then took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself back down before he said, "Look Dad, it really is, a long, long story."

Tom stared hard at his oldest son, truly examining him this time. There were slight, dark circles under his eyes, signs of lack of sleep. His cheeks looked a little sunken in and he appeared to be thinner than he was a few months ago. But what got the majority of the parent's attention was the look in Hal's brown eyes. Though he did a good job of hiding it, Tom could see the desperation and fear, barely, leading him to say, "I guess it doesn't really matter. The important thing is that you're alive."

Hal let out a relieved sigh when his Dad dropped the matter and changed the subject, "I missed you old man."

Tom smiled, and walked over to his son and pulled him into another hug before he whispered in Hal's ear, "I missed you too, so much."

The young man tensed a little again, but quickly relaxed and hugged his father back. After a minute, Tom pulled away and said, "Come on, let's head home."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Ben walked back through the gate into Chinatown. After his Dad suddenly ran off during the fight against the attacking skitters, followed by Weaver, the rest of the soldiers managed to finish off the aliens, but neither his Dad nor Weaver were in sight. He went out looking for them while some scouts went out to make sure that there were no more skitters in the area. After about half-an-hour though, Ben came back to the 2nd Mass alone.

"I can't find where Dad and Weaver went." Ben told Anne, Lexi, Matt, and Maggie as he walked over to them.

"Don't worry Ben, I'm sure they will show up soon." Anne assured him while assuring the others at the same time, as all of Tom's children looked worried. Even Maggie appeared a little concerned.

"But if there are still skitters and Mechs out there, they could be in trouble." Matt chimed in, looking even more worried than Ben was.

"Your father and Weaver aren't stupid. If they come across trouble, they'll come back for reinforcements." Anne responded with a reassuring smile. Ben was about to inform her and the rest the small group that if his Dad and Weaver didn't arrive in the next ten minutes, he'd be heading back out to look for them, when Matt spoke first.

"Hal? Hal!" Matt took off running towards the gate, leaving Ben, Anne, Maggie, and Lexi standing confused for a few seconds before they completely registered what he said, then turned their heads to see what was going on.

There, coming into Chinatown with Tom and Weaver, was none other than Hal Mason. While Ben, Anne, Maggie, and Lexi stood still and stared in shock, as did the rest of the 2nd Mass, Matt rushed up to his brother, who bent down when he saw the youngest Mason son running up to him. The curly-haired boy threw his arms around the dark haired young man and held on as tight as possible. Hal instantly returned the hug, holding him just as tightly.

"You're alive." Matt whispered as he felt tears of joy and relief well up in his eyes.

"Yeah, I am." Hal confirmed. Still having a tight hold on his youngest brother, Hal looked up at the remaining members of his family and gave them a small smile. Though he was still wondering if coming back was a good idea in the long run, he didn't really regret it. He was happy to be back home.


	13. Omission

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! You will find out later in the story. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

After the initial shock and the reunion and several hugs, which Hal was sure lasted at least half an hour, he, along with his brothers, his sister, Dad, Maggie, Anne, and Weaver ended up in the infirmary. Apparently, the Volm had given her a device that would allow her to see if anyone had been infected with eyebugs. Everyone who had entered Chinatown had to be checked, and considering what happened in Charleston, well, Hal didn't disagree at all.

"Well, you look clean. No eyebugs at all." Anne revealed as she lowered the small, circular device from Hal's eyes and started walking away from him, causing a feeling of relief to everyone in the room.

"That's always good to hear." Hal responded with a smile. While he had been certain that there wasn't a bug in him, after what happened before in Charleston, the doctor's confirmation was music to Hal's ears.

"So, he's good to go then?" Matt spoke up, anxious to leave the infirmary so he could spend time with his oldest brother who he had not seen in five months. Hal grinned at his baby brother, then looked over at Anne, waiting for her answer.

"I just want to run a blood test, if that's okay." Anne replied as she placed the eyebug detection device onto the table and grabbed a syringe.

Hal instinctively tensed at the sight of the needle, but forced himself to nod and say as convincingly as possible, "Yeah, it's fine."

As Anne pushed the needle through his skin and into one of his veins with the skill and accuracy as only an experienced doctor or nurse could, Hal did his best to stay as still and relaxed as possible. He had never been a big fan of needles before the invasion, but after everything that happened in the last several months, he detested them as much as a person could detest an inanimate object. Despite all of that though, Hal kept his eyes on the doctor and what she was doing in order to avoid any looks he might be getting from his Dad, brothers, Maggie, and Weaver.

After what felt like hours to Hal, Anne pulled the needle out of his arm, placed a band-aid over the spot, and said, "Okay, done."

Hal reached for his black jacket as Anne walked away and was in the process of slipping it on when Matt suddenly appeared at his side. The older Mason brother gave the younger one a smile, but then looked up and over at his Dad when he heard him ask, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah Dad, I'm fine." Hal replied sincerely, though he was starting to get slightly annoyed with everyone asking him that.

"You just, look a little worse for wear." Tom informed him, looking up and down at his son with careful eyes.

"I think we all kind of do at this point, old man." Hal retorted with a smirk, causing Tom to grin and nod in agreement.

"I still can't believe you're actually alive. We heard that the ghetto where you were was destroyed." Ben told his only older brother, taking a step closer to Hal. The expression he was wearing was one Tom, Hal, and Matt easily recognized. It was the expression he wore when he was deep in thought, trying to figure something out, and it unsettled Hal far more than he showed.

"Yeah, it was." Hal confirmed with a cool and casual tone.

"How did that even happen? Escape attempt gone wrong?" Ben wondered, trying to make sense of everything. Though he hadn't wanted to believe that Hal was dead, when Karen told them that he was, and neither the Volm or the rebel skitters could find anything about what happened to him, the teenager did end up believing it. It was the only scenario that made sense to him. Now though, he knew that he was wrong, but the truth wasn't making much sense to him either.

"No, the Overlords did it themselves." Hal revealed, turning his gaze to the floor as memories flashed in his mind against his will.

"What?" Anne exclaimed, turning away from her task of cleaning up her supplies to look back over at her patient. Everyone else stared at Hal in shock. As far as they knew after fighting the aliens for over two years, they either took prisoners to harness them, or killed them without even bothering to take them as prisoners. The only exceptions to that had been when Tom walked on the spaceship two years ago, and when they rounded up the remaining humans into ghettos. Why would they do that if they were only going to kill them a few months later?

"I think, it was because they needed to focus on fighting the Volm or something and needed more Overlords and skitters to fight rather than just guarding a prison." Hal said, looking at Anne for a few seconds before turning his gaze over to his father and Weaver.

"That's not really surprising. It's been done throughout our history before." Tom responded. With his years of studying history, he knew what had happened and what nearly happened in times of war. It was very possible that the Espheni needed more fighters and decided to get rid of their prisoners so those guarding them could come help.

"Why did you stay hidden though?" Maggie suddenly chimed in with her own question, getting everyone's attention.

"Let's just say, a lot happened in that last few months that made me think that you would all be safer if I wasn't with you." Hal somewhat explained, looking only at the blonde woman with apologetic and sincere eyes, hoping that she could understand. He never wanted to hurt her or his family, but he truly believed it was the best way to keep them safe.

Tom frowned a little at his oldest. He knew that there was more to the story, and there was a reason Hal wasn't talking, everyone in the room probably knew that, but Tom also knew that constantly questioning the young man, trying to get answers, wasn't going to work. He could tell that Hal was already starting to get defensive. If they kept pushing, he would at first, pretend everything's fine and try to blow them off. If that didn't work, he'd push right back, as hard as he could to ensure they would stop and leave him alone. And the parent was not willing to let his child isolate himself from them, not after so many months apart already.

"We can talk about all that later. We're all just happy that you're alive, and you're back with us." Tom said for the group, giving them all a quick look that told them to drop whatever questions they were about to ask Hal before turning his head to give Hal a small smile.

"Me too." Hal said, also smiling, though his was wider. He turned his attention back to Matt though when he felt his smaller arms wrapped around his waist in a hug, the second one in only an hour. Still smiling, he hugged him back, feeling as though a weight on his chest was becoming lighter and lighter.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It was almost an hour later when Tom entered the infirmary once again. This time though, he was completely alone. He had spent the last hour with his sons and daughter, but decided to come see if Anne had found anything from the blood test she wanted to run. He had noticed that they, specifically Hal, were getting a lot of looks from the members of the 2nd Mass and knew that the sooner any rumors and suspicions were put to rest, the better.

"So, did you find anything?" Tom asked as he entered the small exam room Anne was in before walking over the table the doctor was sitting in front of.

"Well, he's a bit malnourished, but considering the situation, I'm not that surprised." Anne informed him, glancing over at him from the papers in her hands. The group that reunited with the 2nd Mass over a month ago from the ghetto, the group Tom, Weaver, and Matt were in all showed signs of malnourishment due to their food supply being severally rationed.

"Is he going to be okay?" Tom questioned as he sat down on the chair beside Anne, growing a little more worried. He had already figured out that Hal probably hadn't been eating enough because he was pretty sure he could feel his son's ribs when he hugged him. And while that worried him, it was the strange look on his girlfriend's face that caused him to fear that she had found something wrong with Hal.

"As long as he eats more and drinks more water, he'll be fine. Other than that, he's completely clean. Or at least, as far as I can tell." Anne answered, then put the papers down and turned to give him her full attention as she asked, "Where is he?"

"Maggie's taking him to one of the empty rooms he can use, then I think she, Matt, and Lexi want to show him around." Tom replied, feeling a little better now that he knew that Anne hadn't found anything wrong with him. He started feeling a bit on edge though when he saw a hesitant and nervous expression on her face.

"What?" Tom asked, wanting to know what was going on in her head. Anne leaned closer to him, put her hand on his, then said, "Tom, I'm happy that he is alive, I really am, but you have to admit, all of this seems really weird."

Tom sighed, and looked away. He wasn't surprised that Anne brought this up. He knew this subject was going to come up soon, and it needed to be addressed. Apparently, that was now. With a nod, he responded, "Yeah, I know."

"Are you going to try and get some more answers from him?" Anne wondered, curious what her boyfriend was planning on doing.

"Maybe. I mean, we have no idea what all could've happened to him Anne. I still haven't told anyone really about what I went through those three months I was gone after I walked onto an Espheni spaceship. If he went through anything like that, I wouldn't blame him for not wanting to talk about it." Tom answered, turning his gaze back and forth from her and a spot on the floor.

"I understand that Tom. I think everyone does, but what doesn't make sense, is why he wanted us to think that he was dead, why he wants Karen to think he's dead." Anne said.

Tom looked up at her with a hard expression as he responded, "Karen hasn't at all bothered to hide that she has a weird, creepy obsession with Hal. She tried to manipulate him, she put a bug in him, she separated him from us. If having her think that he's dead keeps him safe from her, then I'm more than happy to let her think that."

"Then, why didn't she save Hal from the ghetto before it was destroyed?" Anne questioned, a little unsure if she should keep talking about this subject, seeing that Tom was getting into a protective mode. She didn't blame him though. She was questioning his son, whom he had just reunited with after more than five months of separation. Of course he'd be feeling extremely protective of him, and probably would be for a while.

"Maybe she didn't know about it." Tom answered, though his voice held a bit of questioning tone in it, as though he wasn't sure if his answer was a good one.

"Tom, I think there's a lot more going on that we don't know about it, and I think we need to find out what it is." Anne told him, keeping her voice gentle as she didn't want the man to think she was attacking his son. Tom let out another sigh, then lowered his head so far down that his chin nearly hit his chest and let it hang there for a moment, then raised his head again though his eyes were closed.

"I do too." Tom agreed, then looked at her as he continued, "But for now, I'm just too relieved that my son is alive, and is here with us to question the strange situation. As soon as everything starts going back to normal, I'll try to find out what Hal isn't saying. I promise."

"Good." Anne replied. While she was indeed glad that Hal was alive and had rejoined them, something about the entire situation just felt off. There were so many questions, so much that they didn't know, and she couldn't help but feel that until they knew the answers to their questions and learned what all happened, no one was going to feel like everything was okay.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

"Here it is." Maggie said as she opened the door to the bedroom that Hal was going to be taking. The young man followed right behind her, and looked around. The room was a little smaller than the hotel room he had been staying in, but he didn't really care. There was a window on the wall opposite of the one the double bed was pushed against and on the right, he saw another door which Maggie had said led to the bathroom.

After he had gotten checked over by Anne, he spent some more time with his family, mostly just catching up with them, especially about Lexi. It took awhile for Hal to understand and process what all happened to his only sister, and from what he could tell, there was still a lot that his Dad and Anne still didn't know or understand. For Hal though, he was mostly just a little unnerved that his baby sister who still wasn't even a year old yet looked to be about his age, but she seemed nice and happy that he was with them now.

Not long after that though, his Dad went to go talk to Anne, most likely about him, and his brothers realized that Hal didn't have a place to sleep. The building that his family was staying was small, and there weren't anymore bedrooms. Apparently, Ben and Matt were already bunking together in one room just so they could be together. And due to the unexpected number of people that came with Tom and Weaver from the ghetto, the other houses and apartments were full too, which led to him getting a bedroom in a building across the courtyard and away from the others.

"You pretty much have the whole building to yourself, a lot of people have been bunking together." Maggie informed him as she watched him examine the place he was now going to be staying.

When Ben and Matt realized that the house they were in with their Dad, Anne, and Lexi didn't have space for their oldest brother and that the other rooms in the surrounding buildings were filled too and that most of them had roommates already as well, a part of Maggie wanted to remind them, and tell Hal that she wasn't bunking with anyone. She didn't though. The blonde couldn't place her finger on it, but something was different about Hal.

While he looked happy, she could see that there was slight hesitation on his part with almost everything he did. And when she came forward to greet him, he smiled and hugged her, but didn't move to kiss her, and she didn't make a move either. She wondered if it was because of how distant she had been to him before they were separated, or if something else was going on with him. So, Maggie didn't say anything. She just mentioned that the building they were in now had some rooms ready and led him over as Ben and Matt went to talk to Weaver about something in the cafeteria area.

"Makes sense." Hal said, looking back over at Maggie. Seeing the thoughtful and almost nervous expression on her face, he smiled and added, "Don't worry about it. The room's fine."

"Good." Maggie replied, forcing a small smile, not wanting to confront him with her own questions that were burning in her head. She had already seen Tom, Ben, Matt, and Anne overload him with questions of where he was, what had happened, why did he stay away, why does he want Karen to think he's dead. She had seen the look in his eyes when they did, nervous and anxious. She didn't want to do the same thing.

"You okay?" Hal asked with a concerned voice, seeing right through her fake smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Maggie tried to assure him. She knew she had failed though when he dropped his bag on the bed with a sigh and walked back over to her.

"Maggie," Hal started, then stopped, not really sure what exactly to say. He couldn't really call her out on the fact that she was lying to him, or at the very least, holding something back. He was doing the same thing after all. And he wasn't sure how she'd react if he did. Maggie had always been a very guarded person, he had seen that from the start. Sometimes she'd open up, and sometimes she would shut him down and out. Since she pushed him away the last time he tried to get her to talk, he was pretty sure that she'd do the same now.

"I'm just, beyond grateful that you're alive." Maggie revealed, wanting him, needing him to know how happy she was that he wasn't dead like Karen said he was. She tried to come up with a way to describe how much the belief that he was dead hurt, but all that came out was, "I, the thought of you being dead was, it sucked."

She somewhat expected Hal to laugh at her choice of words, but all he did was smile as he said, "I'm glad that you are all alive too. And that you're all safe."

"But, you knew about us before we did about you." Maggie retorted, unable to keep a small amount of bitterness from seeping into her voice.

"True." Hal commented, lowering his gaze for a moment as an almost shamed expression came upon his face. Then he looked back up at her with such a desperation that it somewhat startled Maggie before he told her, "You have every right to be mad at me about, staying away, letting you all think that I was dead. But, please know that I was just doing what I thought was safer for everyone."

"Safe from Karen?" Maggie quickly yet quietly surmised, having listened closely to every answer he gave his Dad and brothers when peppered him with questions. As she stared into his intense brown eyes, she thought she saw a twinge of fear at the mention of his ex-girlfriend, but it was gone before she could tell for sure.

"Yeah." Hal confirmed as he turned his downwards to look at the floor once again.

"What happened that made you want her to think you're dead?" Maggie couldn't stop herself from asking. It was the one question that kept going around and around her head, the one question that would explain everything he did, every choice he had made.

"That, is a very, very long and complicated story." Hal told her, still not looking at her as he turned around and walked back over to the bed. Maggie resisted the urge to yell, to demand that he stopped pushing everyone away when he gave her the same answer he had been giving everyone who asked that particular question. Confronting him would do nothing more than push him away, and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Well, if you ever want to talk," Maggie offered, causing Hal to stop unpacking his bag, which was what he had started doing when he went over to the mattress, and look over at her.

"I'll find you." Hal told her, a small smile coming upon his face once again.

Maggie smiled back, then turned to leave to give him time to unpack and settle in, but then a sudden thought came into her head. She immediately halted, then turned back to Hal and said, "Hey, before I forget, thanks for saving me from drowning."

Hal smile grew a little more as he reminded her, "Like you said, we're partners. We've got each other's backs. There was no way I was going to let anything happen to you if I could stop it."

"I know. I feel the same way." That was the problem though. While Hal had no problem risking his life to keep Maggie, and his family safe, there was no way he was okay with her doing the same thing for him, even if it was very hypocritical of him.

For a moment, the two just smiled at each, almost feeling like they were back to normal again, back to how they were in Charleston. But then that moment ended as Maggie said, "Well, I'll let you get settled. You better hurry, your brothers are probably waiting. I think they want to keep you in their sights for a while."

Hal let out a small chuckle at the thought of his brothers waiting impatiently for him before he said to Maggie's retreating form, "I'll be there soon."

The minute Maggie closed the door behind her, Hal let out the breath he had been holding ever since he walked down those hotel stairs to his Dad and Weaver and let his entire body relax. Now that he was alone, he had to fully think without any distractions or people watching. He knew that people watching was going to be a very common thing over the next few days. Actually, it would probably last a few weeks. Unless it was Pope of course. Pope wouldn't stop keeping a suspicious eye on him for several months at least. Yeah, he was going to have to keep his distance from the former criminal. Luckily, no one should notice that since they didn't like each other.

Hal took another look around the bedroom before he walked into the attached bathroom and closed the for even more privacy. Once there, he examined his reflection in the mirror.

His skin was still a bit paler than normal, and his cheeks and eyes were more sunken in than they should be, but it was still a lot better than the first time he looked into a mirror after he escaped. He didn't recognize himself at all that time. He was now starting to look like himself, though was something different in his eyes. They were their normal colour of course, but, somehow they appeared, almost heavier. Well, maybe not heavier, more like haunted, like he had seen something that scarred him for life. Then again, that notion was actually pretty accurate.

Quickly brushing off the thought, not wanting to go there, Hal lifted up his shirt, wanting to check something else. He nearly winced when he saw that his ribcage was still fairly visible against his skin. Again, it wasn't as bad as the first time he saw how much weight he had lost, but it didn't look like it should. He wondered if his Dad or his brothers could feel it when they hugged him.

Hal then lowered his shirt before his eyes were drawn to the scars on his torso, and then lowered his head, not wanting to stare at his reflection anymore. Instead, he let his gaze fall on his hands that were now resting on the sink, instinctively focusing on the few, extremely faint scars on the fingers on his right hand, knowing there were more under his gloves on both hands. Nobody else would see them though, they were far too pale. They could only see them if they were looking for them and knew exactly where to look. Not like the other scars he had.

Suddenly, Hal wasn't in the bathroom anymore as the thought of the marks on his body brought forward unwanted memories.

_The jabbing pain in his spine as several needles were forced through his skin and into his bone._

_The white-hot agony of the knife tearing his skin and muscles as it was stabbed into his shoulder._

_Screaming so loud and long that his voice grew so hoarse that he could no longer make a sound though his entire body was begging him to. _

_The sound of a neck snapping in half echoing loudly in his ears_.

Hal immediately reached over and turned the tap that had the colour blue on it, the sign for cold. As the water started running, he slipped off his fingerless gloves, then cupped the chilled water in his hands before splashing in on his face. The cold grounded him, bringing his thoughts back to what was happening now, forcing the memories away. He knew it wouldn't last long though. The memories would return, they always did, but Hal didn't care about that at the moment. Right now, his brothers, his sister, and Maggie were waiting for him.

So Hal quickly dried his face, put his gloves back on and made his way out of the bathroom, out of his bedroom and back to where his siblings and Maggie said they'd meet him, before his Dad joined them again.

**AN** – So, how long should I make you guys wait before I give you any answers? Actually, I've already written most of the story at this point, so I know you guys will be waiting for a while. Sorry. Hope you liked this chapter. See you all next time!


	14. Haunted

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**Enjoy!**

_Hal wasn't sure what exactly had woken him up. The only noise he could fully make out was the screaming, both close by and faint, and he had gotten used to that quite awhile ago. He also wasn't really in any pain, which was a first. He could hardly remember the last time he woke up and there wasn't any part of his body that was aching. Maybe it was the absence of pain that woke him. Was that possible?_

_Taking a deep breath to try and clear his foggy head, he smelled something strange. Smoke. Instantly knowing that something was wrong, Hal forced his eyes open. He was a little taken aback when he saw he was in a different room, but then remembered that he had woken up here once before and proceeded to look around. Surprisingly, he was completely alone._

_Deciding to take advantage of that, Hal pushed himself off the metal table he was lying on, pulled out the IV in his hand, then started making his way to the door. His muscles protested with every movement, but he continued anyways. As he got closer to the room's exit, he spotted his torn and bloodied camo jacket on the ground beside the door. He glanced down and saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The only thing covering his torso and arms were the bandages wrapped around his injuries. He reached down to grab his coat and slipped it on before making his way out of the room._

_If the unlocked door wasn't enough to make Hal very suspicious about what was going on, the complete lack of skitters and harnessed kids sure did. He was starting to wonder if this was all a dream, but he continued nonetheless. If it was a dream, he'd wake up eventually, and if it wasn't, then it was a perfect chance to escape. Once he got out of the building though, he froze in horror and confusion._

_The entire place was on fire. The other building trapped in the alien-electric fence was burning, as was the trees in the area, even the grass. Other prisoners were running around yelling at the top of their lungs. They were actually attacking each other too. Some were running straight into the fence, not even caring that touching it turned them to dust._

_The sound of a nearby scream quickly had Hal turning around, before his eyes widen at the sight of a person on completely on fire running straight for him._

Hal shot upright in his bed, a loud gasp escaping his lips. His brown eyes were open as wide as they could possibly be, though he wasn't seeing anything. The nightmares, the memories were still playing his in mind clear as day. He wasn't sure how long it took, it could've been hours or minutes, but eventually, the young man felt his body start to calm down as his brain registered that he wasn't in any danger, that he was safe.

The young man looked around the room in habit, just to make sure that there was no one else around. While he had always had complete privacy in his bedroom, he always felt the need to make sure that no one could have seen him having his nightmares. Hal had no doubt that everyone had really bad nightmares, they were in a warzone after all, but he was pretty sure that nobody had them every single night and kept them from getting any more than two hours of sleep a night. And considering what he told his family about where he was, they would get mighty suspicious if they knew of his nightmares and lack of sleep. After all, as far as he knew, they weren't having nightmares about what happened to them in the ghetto.

Once he was 100 percent sure of where he was and that he was alone, Hal looked over to the window in order to get a sense of what the time was. Due to the fact that most buildings had no electricity and batteries were scarce, there weren't many working clocks in Chinatown, so the oldest Mason son had no way of knowing the actual time unless he got up to go find out.

Seeing that it was still dark out though, he laid back down on his bed. It was too early for him to get up, especially since he had no reason to be. Those that still believed he was probably a spy or something would get suspicious if they saw him walking around in the middle of the night. So he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get another hour or two of sleep in. Maybe.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It felt like years for Hal before he decided that it was a decent time to leave his bedroom and go outside. For the last week, he had been completely aware of people staring at him, and he knew that it would keep happening for a while yet. Since he knew that it would be happening when he decided to come back to the 2nd Mass with his Dad and Weaver, he was actually a little surprised by how quickly he got annoyed with the staring and whispers. However, he did his best to ignore it and tried to act as normal and casual as possible, which turned out to be a bit harder than he thought it would be.

Ever since he arrived, he felt constantly on guard. Though Hal had kept himself on guard back when he was on his own, this was a little different. Before, all he had to worry about was that he stayed alive and hidden. Now, he was constantly on edge about doing anything that seemed just slightly abnormal. Because if anyone saw, and with how much attention was on him, someone definitely would, he had a feeling he'd be accused of being a mole. He was already certain that the majority of the 2nd Mass believed he was, but since there was no proof, they couldn't really do anything about it. Not without angering his Dad at least. So, he kept his head down, just like he had been doing since he arrived, and walked over to the food line to get some lunch.

"Hal!" The young man jumped slightly in surprise and immediately tensed up when he heard someone yell out his name. Turning around to see who it was, he quickly forced himself to relax at the sight off his youngest brother, not wanting him to see that he actually somewhat scared him. Hal knew he was too slow though when he saw Matt's excited expression turn to one of worry.

"You okay?" Matt asked, slowly his stride though he continued towards his older brother.

"Yeah I'm fine, you just startled me buddy." Hal answered with a grin as he reached over and ruffled the kid's short hair when Matt got close enough.

"Sorry." Matt apologized, actually looking more ashamed than just sheepish.

"Don't worry about it." Hal told him with a more serious smile. Matt looked a little unsure, but ultimately nodded. Deciding it was time to change the subject, Hal said, "You seem excited," remembering how his brother sounded only seconds earlier.

"Dad's letting me go on patrol with Anthony and Tector today." Matt told him, regaining his smile.

"Sounds like fun." Hal remarked with a grin of his own as the two reached the line.

Before either of the two could say anything else, their other brother, who was already in line, asked, "How come you haven't been assigned to go on patrols yet?"

The only response Hal gave at the moment was a quick shrug of his shoulders as they had now reached the table with the food. In silence, the three siblings quickly filled their plates while the oldest thought how to best answer his younger brother. He wasn't really sure why Ben was asking that since he had only been back for eight days and there had only been two patrols during that time. Maybe he was wondering why he wasn't diving right back into the war like he probably would've been, even though he had been on sentry duty three times, with others of course. They weren't trusting him that much, not that he blamed them.

"You'd have to ask Dad." Hal told them as the three brothers took their plate of food over to an empty table. What the raven-haired young man neglected to mention though, was that he himself had not asked about why he hadn't been on any patrols, nor did he have any intention of asking anytime soon. Going out on patrols and doing food or weapon runs could be dangerous, and he knew that was the last place he should be.

_Bang!_

Everyone, including Hal snapped their heads over to the gate where the sound of a gun firing came from. One of the people on sentry duty right by the gate immediately yelled 'sorry' once he saw that everyone was looking at him. It took a few seconds for it to sink in that there was no danger, that it must've been an accident or something, but when it did, the members of the 2nd Mass that heard the shot turned back to whatever they were doing. Everyone, except Hal that is. Ben and Matt both immediately noticed that their older brother was still staring, and was tense enough that he was actually shaking slightly.

"Hal? Hal?" The young man flinched as he felt a hand suddenly touch his arm and snapped his head to the side. Seeing that it was only Matt, and that he was again giving him a worried look, Hal quickly pulled himself together and said, "What?"

"Are you okay? You completely zoned out on us." Ben asked. While his facial expression may have looked a bit emotionless to the others, the oldest sibling could clearly read the concern in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Hal replied with a somewhat confident, half grin.

Ben stared at him, and though the dark-haired, young, man couldn't see it, he could feel Matt's eyes on him as well. After a few seconds, Hal decided to just ignore his younger brothers' attention and started to eat his lunch. A few more seconds later, Ben and Matt both started doing the same thing, though they did shoot Hal a few concerned glances. What all three of them were unaware of however, was that a certain Colonel was watching them from the sidelines, staring in particular at Tom Mason's eldest child before he walked away.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Less than ten minutes after leaving the cafeteria area of the camp, Weaver was walking through the main building towards the office that Tom had set up. He had been wondering what the other leader of the 2nd Mass was planning, as they hadn't been on any missions or anything. While it had been nice to have a little break from the fight, everyone knew it wouldn't last long. And, well, after what he just saw, he was a little concerned about Tom's oldest child.

"Weaver." The former history professor greeted the Colonel when he saw him enter the room.

"Tom." Weaver said, closing the door behind him. As he walked over to the leader, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Cochise said that the Volm won't be ready to make another attack on the Espheni bases around us for another few weeks. I was thinking that we just do some food and weapons runs until then. Stock up on everything we need in case we get hit by another skitter attack. We might have to stay in Chinatown for a while if we do." Tom filled him in as the Colonel sat down at the table on his left side.

"Sounds like a solid plan. I'm surprised that we haven't been attacked much since we destroyed the base where they were building parts for their new weapon." Weaver commented.

"Same here, but I think it might be because that was such a large base, there just aren't that many skitters or Overlords around to attack us. Or maybe they're focusing on protecting their other bases right now." Tom theorized, not really wanting to question how quiet it had been lately. It gave them time to think, plan, and prepare for whatever was going to happen next. When Weaver didn't say anything, the former history teacher looked up and saw a somewhat nervous expression on the older man's face.

"What?" Tom asked, wanting to know why his friend was looking at him like that and what was going through his head.

"Nothing." Weaver responded, though the look didn't fade. Tom stared at him for a few more seconds, knowing that there was indeed something that the military man wanted to say. When he stayed quiet though, Tom turned his attention back to the map, marking places that should be checked for food, weapons, and medical supplies.

"How's Hal doing?" Weaver finally asked the father after almost two full minutes of silence.

"Good, I think." Tom answered with a convincing tone, though the way he slightly tensed up told Weaver he was a lot more worried about his oldest son than he sounded.

"Has he said anything about what happened yet?" Weaver then questioned, hoping his tone didn't sound like he was pushing for answers.

"No, but I haven't asked either." Tom revealed. Seeing the look on his friend's face, he immediately explained, "I just, want to give him time to settle back in and for people to calm down about his sudden reappearance before I ask again. He's already so guarded right now."

"I think most people are okay with Hal coming back here despite the circumstances, or at least, are getting there. It's Pope and his crew that are the problem." Weaver informed him, frowning when he brought up the former criminal and his gang.

"Tell me about it. Even though I told him Anne checked Hal over and found nothing, he still keeps insisting that there's something going on." Tom told him, raising a hand to rub his temples.

"You know, he's probably right." Weaver replied. When Tom's gaze immediately snapped back to him, clearly about to defend his son, the Colonel quickly added, "I'm not saying Hal is a threat to us, but you and I both know that there is something going on with him. Why else would he stay away, wear a mask, and want Karen to think he's dead?"

Tom stared at him for a few seconds before he nodded and quietly admitted, "I know."

"Is that why you haven't been letting him go on any patrols or anything like that?" The Colonel wondered.

"Part of the reason. The other part is that, Hal hasn't said or shown any desire to do anything like that, to become more involved in the fight." Tom answered.

"That's strange." Weaver commented. From the expression on his friend's face, he knew that he found it weird too.

"I know. When the invasion first happened and we joined the group in Boston, he was chomping at the bit to get into the fight. Now, nothing."

"Well, it could simply be he wants a bit of a break from fighting. I mean he escaped a ghetto while the aliens were destroying it, he's been alone for months. If anything were to happen while he was alone, he'd have to do all the fighting. He'd never be able to let his guard down. Now here, with a group of people, soldiers, protected by a barrier, he can somewhat relax." Weaver tried to explain to him. Having been a soldier for many years, the Colonel easily understood that, and he knew that Tom should be able to understand it after fighting the alien invaders for the last two years.

"And," Weaver started, not fully sure if he should continue. When he saw Tom staring at him, waiting for him to finish, he knew he had too, "he might just want a break from fighting Tom. He's been through a lot in the last few months."

"We all have." Tom quickly pointed out.

"I know, but everyone has their limit. Maybe Hal just reached his." Weaver countered, knowing first hand what it was like reaching your own limit. Tom stared at him for a minute before realizing what his friend was getting at.

"You mean PTSD?"

"Maybe not quite that, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was happening too. I'm pretty sure I've already seen him show some signs of it." Weaver replied, causing Tom to look back down at the table. Though he wanted to deny it, he couldn't. He had seen the signs too.

"I'll try talking to him again later." Tom informed him.

Weaver felt a little guilty for bringing all of this up right now, but a lot of tension was building up in the 2nd Mass with the sudden reappearance of Hal Mason. Even though he had been checked over, rumours were flying about the young man, going from him being bugged again, a spy, or even a clone and that the real Hal was dead. It was starting to get ridiculous, but Weaver knew that until all the information came out, they wouldn't stop. They could try and wait for it to pass, but considering that he had been bugged and controlled by the aliens before, he wasn't sure that it would. They had to know, they had to make sure that everything was okay with Hal, that he wasn't a threat.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

_Hal laid on his side on the cold, hard, floor. Staying down, hoping that he'd pass out soon was all that he could do. Any movement whatsoever caused pain to spread through his entire body. No, not pain. It was worse than that, it was agony, excruciating agony. Besides, even if moving didn't hurt, he still couldn't, he didn't have the strength too. Even breathing was hard, and it hurt too._

_The sound of the door unlocking and the loud, squeak of the hinges as it was pushed open broke through the slight ringing in his ears. For a few seconds, he tried to think of who was coming into his cell. He hoped it wasn't the skitters to take him back to that room again. They just dumped him here minutes ago. At least, he thought only a few minutes had passed, but he had no idea. The only clear thing that was registering in his brain was agony his body was in._

_Suddenly, small, gentle hands and fingers touched his shoulder, causing Hal to gasp as the pressure made the aches worse. It was then he tried to move, wanting to get away from whoever was touching him, but the person made a quiet and calming 'shh' noise before gripping his shoulder and pulling him back into the position he was in. Then, one hand disappeared only to reappear a second later under his head. The hand was cold, which made Hal flinch slightly, but the person ignored it and lifted his head up before lying it down on what felt like someone's lap._

_"__It's okay Hal, it's alright." A gentle voice told him as the hand that had lifted his head was now running through his hair. It took a few seconds, but eventually he realized that it was Karen who was beside him, "I know it hurts, I do, but all of this will be over soon."_

_Hal didn't have the energy to say anything, even if he wanted to risk making the pain he was already in worse. While under normal circumstances, he would have pushed her away, would have told her to stay away from him, and there was a part of him that still wanted to, her comfort actually felt nice. It was gentle and caring, like how she used to be before she was harnessed. So he let her stay, slowly but finally drifting off to sleep._

_Just before everything turned black, Hal heard Karen say, "And when it is over, you'll be glad we did this. You're going to be a powerful weapon Hal Mason."_

With a gasp, Hal shot up in his bed, soaked with perspiration as the memory continued to swirl in his head. Above him, the uncovered light-bulb suddenly turned on and started glow brighter and brighter until the entire room was white. Then, it shattered.


	15. Withdrawn

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! It's getting closer to when Hal reveals what happened. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

As Hal walked out of the building his room was in, he instinctively moved to scratch his hand but stopped himself. While the gloves covered the new cuts on his hands he got when he was cleaning up the glass from the light-bulb in his room, the fabric irritated them. Scratching them though would most likely cause them to bleed again and that could draw some unwanted attention. It was another reason he put his gloves on. If he didn't, it wouldn't take long for someone, most likely his brothers or Maggie, to notice the scabbed cuts on his hands.

He hadn't told anyone about what happened with the light-bulb in his room shattering into hundreds of pieces. He knew that he was probably being paranoid, but he didn't want anyone to know. It could lead to a lot of unwanted questions and while he could probably come up with a reasonable explanation fairly easily, it was safer if he just kept what happened to himself. He had enough attention on him already, he didn't need any more.

Despite the people who were outside stopping whatever they were doing to stare at him, Hal continued on his way, trying to appear calm, cool, and collected. The members of the 2nd Mass were slowly getting used to him being there, though he knew that they still didn't feel very comfortable due to the circumstance of his sudden reappearance, but he sure it was only a matter of time, except for a certain former criminal and his gang. After all, Pope had made it no secret how he felt about Hal, nor had he kept quiet on his thoughts and theories.

The young man did his best to ignore it, but it was getting a bit harder as whenever Pope or his Berserkers were around, they always watched him and didn't stop until he was gone. It was like they were waiting for him to make a mistake so they could use it as proof of their suspicions. And sometimes, they'd actually follow him around a little. Remembering how they jumped his Dad when he returned to the 2nd Mass after walking onto an alien spaceship and being gone for three months, he knew that they could very easily try and do the same to him. It was one of the reasons why he forced himself to stay among the crowds even though he hated it.

As he walked through the group now though, he felt worse than he did the last few days. Hal was pretty sure it was mostly because of his exhaustion, only getting about two to three hours of sleep a night was taking its toll on him, but today, it felt as though literally every eye was on him, and that they were seeing right through him. The feeling caused his body to completely tense, the hairs on the back of his neck and arms to rise and his heart to pound. The dark-haired young man tried to force himself to calm down, hoping that no one could see how panicked he was becoming, but he couldn't. He had to get out of the crowd.

So that's what he did. Hal did his best to continue looking like everything was normal as he walked through part of the crowd and towards the closest alley that would hopefully take him somewhere private, all the while acting like that was what he had planned to do from the start. Luckily, the place was completely deserted and with the buildings around him, hiding him from anyone's view, he finally felt himself start to calm down.

This was really getting annoying. For the most part, Hal had been doing pretty well in staying calm despite the tension, the suspicion and the constant eyes around him. But then there were times like this, where he'd suddenly feel closed in, and like everyone was watching him. When that happened, he did his best to get away from everyone. He didn't want anyone to see, nor did he want to continue staying there and risk what could happen if his heart continued to pound and adrenaline continued to run through his body.

Hal moved to stand with his back against the wall of the closest building and as he leaned against it, he raised his fist and punched it in frustration. He was so tired of doing this, tired of going through this. While he loved being with his family, he didn't have to worry about this when he was off on his own. As he punched the wall again though, he heard a quiet whistling sound followed by the sound of something else hitting the wall beside him. His brown eyes snapped open and he found an old brick that had been lying in a pile on the other side of the alley was now on the ground beside him, and there was a hole in the wall that wasn't there before.

"Sh*t." Hal cursed under his breath before looking around, hoping that no one was around to see what he just did. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that there were no witnesses. The young man wasn't sure what he'd do if someone had seen what he had done and was in no hurry to find out. It was better, safer, if everyone was kept in the dark.

"Hal?" Hal visibly jumped and immediately turned around to see who had snuck up on him. He tried to relax when he saw that it was just Maggie, but couldn't fully. What were the odds she had seen him move the brick without actually touching it?

"Hey Maggie." Hal said, forcing a smile in an effort to hide his fear. Maggie stared at him with a worried expression, causing Hal to believe that she had seen what just happened, but then she asked, "What are you doing over here?"

"I'm just, looking around is all. Is that a problem?" Hal questioned, letting his defenses rise a bit. He knew that in the long run, it would only make Maggie more suspicious than she already was, but for now, it might get her to back off which was what he needed right now.

"No, just curious." Maggie answered, instantly picking up on his defensive tone.

The blonde had no idea why he had suddenly got defensive, but then again, a lot of his behaviour had been strange since he got back and she didn't know why. She had her theories and she was sure everyone in the 2nd Mass did too. While most were probably that he was working for the Espheni, she knew that wasn't true. At least, she hoped it wasn't. Maggie personally thought it was because Hal had spent so much time apart from them, as well as time completely alone, he wasn't used to having people all around him anymore, and she was sure with some members of the 2nd Mass constantly watching him when he was in their area of sight wasn't helping.

At the same time though, she was sure that there was something else going on with him that they knew nothing about. And from the way he was holding himself back from his friends and family, she knew he wanted to keep it that way, which was only going to make it harder for her, and everyone else to learn what was going on. Even back when they were together, Maggie had known that when it came to anything personal that he was dealing with or if something happened to him, talking to him about it could be very tricky. She was never fully sure if he would open up to her, or if he would push her away.

Hal seemed to relax though when he saw that she wasn't going to push for answers right now. Instead, he gave her a small smile, started walking towards her and said, "Okay then."

Maggie waited for him to reach her before she questioned, "So, what are you up to today?"

"Nothing much. Sentry duty after lunch for a few hours, then that's it." Hal replied as they started making their way towards the courtyard, then asked, "You?"

"Sentry duty in the evening." Maggie answered. Hal nodded, but didn't say anything else.

For the next few minutes, the two walked in silence, neither of them knowing really what to say. It had been like this ever since Hal came to Chinatown. Actually, it started before that, when Karen released Anne and Lexi and Hal stopped her from killing the human Overlord. Maggie was angry, and hurt that he still apparently believed that Karen could be saved in spite of everything she had done, and pushed her boyfriend away. And now, now she had no idea where they stood.

She still loved him and she wanted to be with him, but she had no idea how exactly to tell him that, nor did she know how he would respond. Before, he had always been fairly open about his feelings towards her, and his family, but now he was so distant. She felt like she was walking on eggshells around him.

"Hal, you know you can always talk to me, about anything, right?" Maggie finally broke the silence just before they reached the edge of the courtyard, not wanting others to overhear them.

"Yeah, I know." Hal answered, then stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, "Why are you asking me that?"

"You've just seemed, a little, distant is all. From everyone. I just wanted to make sure that if there's something going on,"

"There isn't." Hal suddenly cut her off, then gave her his reassuring grin and said, "I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Okay." Maggie responded, though she kept staring at him worriedly, making it clear that she didn't believe him.

Beginning to feel as though the blonde's eyes were seeing right through him, Hal then said, "I'm going to go, see if there's something that I can do. Hate being useless you know."

"Yeah, I know." Maggie told him with a nod.

"I'll see you later." Hal didn't really wait for her response before he started walking away, not really caring about which direction he was going in, just as long as it took him away from the one person who could read him like an open book.

Maggie didn't try to stop him. She simply stayed in place and watched him leave. As much as she wanted to get him to talk to her, to yell at him to stop keeping all of his problems to himself and open up, but she knew that that wouldn't work, not now anyways. But soon, they'd have to talk about it. _He'd_ have to talk about it.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Once Tom and Weaver finished their meeting, having been working on plans for more weapons and food runs as well as the possibility of doing another attack on another Espheni base most of the morning, they walked out of their office building towards the courtyard. The former history professor had been planning on meeting up with Anne for lunch while the Colonel was going to check on Jeanne, who had been helping out in the infirmary lately. As the two approached the building though, Tom spotted his youngest son sitting on the steps, looking a bit dejected and deep in thought.

"Hey Matt, how's it going?" Tom asked, moving to stand beside the boy.

"Fine, I guess." Matt answered, not even trying to sound convincing. Tom stared at Matt for a second, then sat down beside him while Weaver stood off to the side, not wanting to intrude, but also wanting to know what was going on.

"What's wrong?" The father asked.

"Hal." Matt said. Tom nodded, immediately knowing what his son was about to say. Since Matt didn't see it though, he continued, "He just seems, different, you know? He doesn't seem to really want to spend any time with anyone."

Tom put his hand on the boy's shoulder as he replied, "Well Matt, we still don't know what all happened to him when he was gone. Whatever it was, he's probably trying to deal with it. Once he does, he'll start coming around."

"I was separated from you guys too. I was on my own. When you found me and brought me here, I never wanted to leave your guys' side again." Matt was quick to point out, turning to face his Dad, "And besides, we're his family. Whatever he is dealing with, he shouldn't be doing it on his own."

"I know Matt, I know. But that's just who Hal is. He doesn't really like people fighting his battles or taking care of his problems, no matter how much we want to." Tom responded, keeping his voice calm and reassuring even though he was just as worried and frustrated with Hal as Matt was.

"It sucks." Matt complained, looking down at the ground.

"Yeah, it does." Tom agreed, moving his hand so his arm was now completely wrapped around Matt's shoulder. They sat quietly for a few seconds, then the father said, "For now though, let's just try to be patient with him, okay?"

Matt didn't look happy with that suggestion, but he nodded as he replied, "Alright."

Tom then moved his hand again to give his son a gentle pat on his back before he said, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." Matt quickly responded. Then, he stood up and walked away, leaving his father to stare after him before he himself got up on his feet.

"What was that about?" Tom immediately turned around to see Anne standing the doorway of the infirmary entrance. He hadn't noticed that she was there, and from the looks of it, has been there for a while.

"He's worried about Hal." Tom answered as Anne walked over to him, "Apparently, I'm not the only one he's being distant with."

When he looked over at Anne, and saw Weaver from the corner of his eye, he saw they both had nervous and concerned expressions that immediately put him a little on edge. Part of him wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was going on, but he knew that they were probably going to tell him anyways, so he turned fully to face them both and said, "What?"

"Tom, you remember how I told you that it's possible Hal could have PTSD?" Weaver asked, a little more slowly than normal.

"Yeah." Tom answered, starting to feel a little defensive as he realized where this conversion was about to go.

"Well, I don't think giving him more time alone, is going to help with that in the long run." Weaver told him. Before Tom could respond to the Colonel's opinion however, Anne chimed in.

"There's also the possibility that it's something else entirely. We still don't know even a quarter of what happened to him. Karen could have done something to him."

Tom's head snapped to his girlfriend when she said that. Despite the obvious change in Hal's behaviour, the father refused to believe that the aliens somehow made him into a spy like they did in Charleston, and with a defensive tone, he asked, "What makes you think that?"

"The fact that Hal was taken at the exact same time from the same place as you, Ben, Weaver and the others were but he was put in a different ghetto. And the fact that Karen, well, seems to have put a lot of attention on him." Anne explained. When she saw that Tom was staring at her with guarded expression, though his eyes were hard and cold, she added, "You have to admit, it's possible."

For a long moment, Tom didn't say anything. He didn't even really look at Anne or Weaver. He knew from the very beginning that something was off with Hal. The first clue was that he didn't join up with them until they found out that he was there. Then, he noticed that Hal wasn't being as social as he normally was, nor did he really smile as much as he used to. Then, the father saw that his son wasn't trying to get back into the fight. But other than that, he seemed okay, and Tom knew, could feel just from that that his son wasn't a mole, nor was he some sort of clone or anything. However, he did know that his boy definitely went through something bad, something traumatic, and that terrified and concerned him.

"What do you guys want me to do? I just got my son back. The last thing I want is to push him away by trying to get him to talk about something he's not ready to. I haven't even told anybody what happened when I walked onto that Espheni spaceship nearly two years ago. If he went through anything like that," Tom broke off, suddenly feeling very sick at the idea that his son he was tortured and manipulated like he had been.

"Tom, we're just concerned about him, that's all." Anne said with a more gentle tone, putting her hand on his shoulder. Even she still didn't know much about what Tom went through on the Espheni spaceship, but she could easily see that whatever it was, it was bad enough that he was terrified that Hal might've gone through the same thing.

"Look," Weaver started, causing the other two adults to look over at him, "neither of us can tell you what to do Tom. Only you can decide what to do. You're his father, you know him best. It's completely your call on what to do right now."

Tom resisted the urge to correct his best friend about what he said about him being the one who knows Hal best. It was Rebecca who knew him best, she was the one he was the closest to, the one that could talk to him and actually get him to talk back. He couldn't do that before, he still couldn't now, but he knew he had to try. He was his father, that was his job, a job he had been failing at recently. He wasn't going to do that anymore.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Lexi looked out from her spot outside by the corner of the infirmary towards Hal, her oldest brother. He was sitting alone at one of the farthest tables in the cafeteria area, a cup of, what she assumed to be coffee, in front him. He was about as far away from everybody as he could get without actually not being there. He didn't seem to mind though, nor did he seem to mind that some of the people around were actually looking up at him every couple of minutes.

The youngest Mason child had no doubt in her mind that Hal had picked that spot on purpose. Lexi may have not really spent anytime with her brother, but she had spent the last 10 days observing him, taking note of his habits and how he communicated with others. During that time, she had seen him be friendly to most people, particularly his family and Tector and Anthony, and keep his distance from others, especially Pope and anyone associated with him. While he had been kind to others, and seemed to be okay with spending time with them, she had also noticed him going off on his own.

Being the newest person to join the Mason family, as well as actually being under a year old despite her appearance, Lexi didn't know much about her oldest brother. The little she did know came from memories of them being together for two weeks before being separated again, and from what her other brothers and parents told her. For the four months her family was apart, her mother was more than happy to tell her about her father and half-siblings. When they were reunited, except for Hal, her father and brothers answered any and every question she had about her missing sibling.

After Karen told them that Hal had died however, all of that stopped. Lexi felt a pain in her chest at the knowledge that she would now never know her oldest sibling, and regret that she didn't spend more time with him when they were together, even though she knew it wasn't anyone's fault. Except for the Espheni that is. And what made it worse, was that she no longer felt she could ask Ben, Matt, or their Dad about him. She could see the grief and pain in their eyes whenever his name came up or they seemed to be remembering something about him and she didn't want to make it worse.

However, the news of Hal still being alive and his return to them changed all that again, for better and worse at the same time. Lexi could see how happy her Dad and brothers were that their other family member was alive and back with them, but soon, that happiness was replaced with concern. She had been told that Hal was extroverted, athletic, good and light-hearted, and a person who hated sitting around doing nothing. This man that had joined them, didn't seem to be any of those things.

She hadn't really spent much time with him since he came to Chinatown, the few times she had their other siblings were around, nervous about how he would react to her with her being a hybrid and now looking the same age as him even though he was nearly 20 years older. However, in those times together, and the times she watched him, Lexi saw that he seemed far more distant than what she had been told was normal, and he had shown no desire to get back into the fight. The hybrid could only assume that whatever he went through during the five months he was gone were to blame for his change in behaviour.

Her other family members and Weaver all seemed to agree, very aware that something was wrong with Tom's oldest child. She knew they had all raised their worries and suspicions to her Dad, but since she didn't know Hal very well, no one asked her opinion, and therefore, she felt no guilt for not telling any of them her observations, or how she just felt in her gut that something was different about him. She had no idea what it was or why she felt that there was more to Hal than meets the eye, and until she did, she wasn't going to say anything.

Instead, Lexi decided it was high time that she actually got to know her oldest brother from more than short memories from months ago and stories told to her by Ben and Matt. So, she forced herself to walk towards Hal, hoping that he wouldn't mind some unexpected company.

"Hi." The young man was broken out of his reverie by a soft, slightly nervous voice. Moving his head to the left, where the voice had come from, and saw Lexi slowly approaching him. He had been lost in thought for who knows how long and didn't notice her until now.

"Hey." Hal greeted her with a small grin. She looked a bit nervous, like she wasn't sure if she should come talk to him, or wasn't sure if she was welcome. Hal didn't like that. While he didn't know her all that well, as he didn't spend much time with her when she was a baby and they were only together for about two weeks before they were separated, Lexi was still his little sister. Of course he wanted a relationship with her and it appeared she wanted the same thing.

"Would you like to join me?" Hal offered when she remained standing in her spot. Slowly, Lexi beamed at him, then nodded eagerly as she sat down at the table across from him.

The two half-siblings, both immediately realizing that they weren't sure what to talk about. Even though Hal had seen her around and they had been together with Matt and Ben, and other group settings, they had never been together by themselves before. It was a lot more awkward and nerve-wracking than either of them thought it would be.

"Looks like the two of us together attract a lot more attention than when we're apart." Lexi commented, glancing at the people around them. Hal then looked around and saw that she was right. Before, there had only been a few people watching them. Now, everyone was.

"Perks of being a hybrid and," Lexi paused when Hal turned his head back to face her, then continued, "being late to joining the group."

"No kidding." Hal responded with a half-smirk, though his mind was starting to race. How much did Lexi know about what happened to him in Charleston? Did she know that Karen put a bug in him? Did she know everything that Karen made him do?

"You don't get in any trouble with anyone because of that, do you?" Hal questioned, beginning to feel guilty about what his little sister had gone through. Though Karen had somehow managed to change Lexi's DNA before he brought his sister and Anne to the human Overlord, he still felt bad about the part he played.

"Not really. It's more like, getting a bunch of distrustful looks and the occasional comments. I try to stay out of their way. Not sure if that helps or not though." Lexi answered, looking down at the table.

"It'll pass, eventually." Hal told her, remembering that even though it did take a while, people did forgive him and slowly started to trust him after word got out that he had been under the aliens control.

Lexi didn't say anything to that. She just looked up him with a hopeful glance, causing her oldest brother to smile reassuringly. Soon, the two were engaged in another conversation. Any remaining tension or awkwardness melted away while the two siblings started to catch up and learn more about each other and slowly, people stopped staring, except for one.

Tom Mason stood several meters away, though he had a clear line of sight of his oldest and youngest children. Ever since he learned that Anne was pregnant nearly over a year ago, he was nervous how Hal, Ben, and Matt would take the news. They took it pretty well, which made him happy, but with everything that happened afterwards, Hal being bugged, Anne and Lexi being taken by Karen, Lexi's alien DNA and her aging at a much faster speed than normal, their months of separation, he was worried about his kids getting along. He soon learned that Ben and Matt were okay with their sister and got along fine. Hal on the other hand, had been keeping his distance from everyone, including Lexi.

He had been planning on talking to Hal, privately so that he wouldn't have to worry about anyone listening in and so the dark-haired young man hopefully wouldn't be so guarded, but stopped. Tom didn't want to interrupt Hal and Lexi's conversation, especially if it was leading to them getting closer as siblings and maybe his son's willingness to open up again. Maybe his first thought was right, that Hal just needed some time, and he could come back and talk to him later when he was free.

With that in mind, Tom turned and walked away, letting his son and daughter get to know each other.


	16. Pieces of the Puzzle

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**Enjoy!**

Tom barely slept a wink that night. It wasn't the first time in his life that he spent the night tossing and turning, trying to quiet the thoughts constantly running through his mind, but it was the first time it happened since he got his oldest son back. When Karen told him that Hal was dead, Tom hardly slept for over a week. Denial, disbelief, fear, pain, and grief overwhelmed his body and mind so strongly that rest was impossible. It was only when his exhaustion became so great that he finally passed out.

After the parent realized his child was still alive, sleep came a bit easier. And when Tom finally saw Hal with his own eyes, when he held him in his arms and brought him to their new home, he finally slept well. He may have had a lot of unanswered questions, he still does, and was a little worried about the state his son was in, he could feel Hal's ribs when he hugged him, and could see a little bit of a haunted look in his eyes, but those worries never kept him up at night. After all, Hal was alive, was safe, and was with them. They could deal with everything else later. Then, last night happened.

A blind man could see how distant Hal had become from everyone around him, and Tom wasn't blind. While he wasn't as close to his oldest child as he was to his younger ones, he could easily tell that there was something off with Hal. He just wasn't acting like himself. And there had been times he seemed not only on edge, but a little paranoid and jumpy. Tom had been trying to give Hal some time and space, but after what Weaver and Anne told him last night, it was time to try actually talking to him. It was time for him to approach his son instead of waiting for Hal to come to him.

Once the 2nd Mass leader went outside, he heard a loud commotion coming from the edge of the courtyard and a crowd forming at the opening of an alley. The alley closest to the building Hal was living in. Panic suddenly flooded Tom's entire body and he took off towards the chaos, hoping that his son wasn't involved. He knew that Hal wouldn't do anything that would get this kind of reaction from the people of the 2nd Mass, but that didn't mean he wasn't somehow involved.

Even though a couple of weeks have passed since he and Weaver had brought Hal back to Chinatown and most of the people in Chinatown have quieted down their worries and fears and actually started to accept his presence and stopped gossiping about him, believing he was an Espheni spy, there were still some that didn't. Those people were Pope and his crew. Tom wouldn't at all be surprised if one of them finally decided to act on their suspicions. They had done the same thing to him after all.

Upon reaching the growing crowd, Tom breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there seemed to be a fight or wrestling match between two soldiers and neither of them was his son. And if the soldiers that were wrestling each other weren't smiling, it would've looked like they were actually trying to pound each other, especially with the crowd egging them. Knowing that even though Hal wasn't involved the fight had to stop, Tom stepped forward and yelled, "Alright, that's enough! Get back to work!"

The crowd immediately started grumbling and groaning in disappointment but followed in their leader's orders, as did the two fighters that were wrestling. As the group dispersed, Tom's gaze landed on a figure standing across the alley almost completely out of sight. It was Hal. The relief the parent was already feeling grew at the sight, but then disappeared when he saw the expression his son was wearing. Hal looked terrified yet distant, as though he was lost in a nightmare or something. Like he had seen something that forced him to recall something terrible, causing the father to walk over to him.

"Hal?" Tom's son turned his head so fast that for a moment the parent worried he would get whiplash. He brushed off that concern though, focusing on the panicked look in Hal's eyes as he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Hal replied, giving his father the reassuring half grin he always did whenever Tom asked about his welfare, the panicked expression disappearing completely behind his well-made walls.

"You just look a little," Tom paused for a brief moment, trying to come up with a word that wouldn't cause Hal to pull away from him before finishing his sentence with the word, "pale."

"Just a little tired. Didn't sleep great last night." Hal explained, slowly losing the smile but kept his expression somewhat chill, clearly making sure that Tom didn't think anything was wrong. It was too late for that though.

"Why not?" Tom questioned, hoping his tone of voice didn't sound like he was trying to interrogate Hal.

"Just one of those night, you know?" Hal responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

Gently placing a hand on the young man's shoulder, Tom said sincerely, "Hal, you know, you can talk to me, about anything."

"I know, but everything's fine." Hal repeated what he had been saying ever since he returned to Chinatown. He turned his body which made it clear to Tom that he was about to walk away, but the father was not going to let the son off that easy. Tom gripped Hal's shoulder tightly, making him turn back to face him.

"I know it's not Hal. There's something going on with you." Tom told him with a quiet but firm tone, hoping that his child would see that he wasn't going to drop the subject and would open up to him instead of pushing him again and risk causing a scene as they were still somewhat in public.

"Yeesh, I think you're becoming delusional old man, because everything's fine. There's nothing wrong with me." Hal said, his cocky grin returning.

"Hal…" Tom lowered and shook his head, letting go of Hal's shoulder. He stayed quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how exactly to get Hal to open up to him since he wasn't answering his bluntness but the younger man quickly decided to take advantage of the older one's pause.

"Dad." The former history teacher's head shot up at the harshness of Hal's voice and found his normally calm and soft brown eyes hard and cold as he once again insisted, "Everything is okay, alright? Just drop it."

A few tense second passed in silence between the father and son. Tom didn't want to let Hal brush him off again like he had been for the last few weeks, but he knew from the look in his eyes that Hal wasn't going to budge anytime soon, not even to avoid having people overhear them and stop and stare at them. If he dropped the subject like Hal wanted him to though, he wasn't sure what would happen in the long run. The last thing he wanted was his eldest to start avoiding him so that he wouldn't risk having this conversation again.

Before he could decide how to proceed with Hal, he heard Weaver's voice shouting, "Tom!"

Tom turned to look behind him and saw not only Weaver but also Cochise standing beside him several meters away in front of the gate. He quickly yelled back, "Coming!" then turned back to face Hal only to find him gone. He had slipped away completely out of sight in those few seconds when Tom wasn't looking. As much as he wanted to, he didn't try to look for Hal. No, he had to go talk to Weaver and Cochise right now. With a loud sigh, Tom walked towards the gate where the Colonel and the Volm were waiting for him.

"Welcome back Cochise. It is good to see you." Tom greeted the Volm with a forced smile. He was still worried about Hal, but he had to push that aside right now.

"It is good to you see as well my friend." Cochise replied with a pleasant tone before his voice turned a little graver as he added, "Unfortunately, it is not under preferable circumstances."

"What's wrong?" Tom questioned, now feeling a worry of a different kind.

"The Espheni that survived our attack on the base that was assembling parts for the mega-beamer have built another factory in a warehouse in a small town several miles from here that are building more mega-mechs." Cochise informed him.

"That's not good." Weaver commented with a slight shake of his head.

"No, especially since that more Espheni, Mechs, and Mega-Mechs are coming to not only guard the base, but also to join their mission when the new mega-mechs are complete." Cochise continued.

"Let me guess, they're going to attack us." Tom correctly assumed.

"That is correct. And with their added numbers and firepower, they have greater odds of winning than you do." Cochise confirmed.

Tom and Weaver shared a quick look before Tom said, "Looks like we have another mission to start planning."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Weaver let out a sigh before he brought a hand up to rub his eyes. Ever since Cochise showed up that morning and told Tom about the Espheni's new factory and how they were planning to attack Chinatown again, he and Tom had been constantly on the go. They found the base on the maps, looked at the surveillance photos Cochise had brought, and tried to come up with a plan. They had also done an inventory of all the weapons and ammo they had to see if they needed to scavenge for more, as well as seeing if there was anything else they needed while they were at it. And there was still more to do.

The soldier glanced over at the clock, one of the few ones that were working, that was hanging on the wall. It was past 7 o'clock in the evening which meant he missed supper, again. Jeanne was not going to be happy with him. This would be the third time he had done that this week. Weaver thought about calling it a night, but since Tom wasn't here, having gone with Ben and Deni to talk to the rebel skitters, he decided he should try to get a little more work done.

So, he got up from his spot at the table in the makeshift office to grab the photos Cochise had given them before he left that were sitting on a smaller table in the corner of the room. Once he had them, he turned to go back to his seat, but stopped and let out a surprised gasp when he saw a figure standing in the doorway that he hadn't noticed until now. He started to relax however when he saw it was only Hal.

"Oh, Hal, you startled me." Weaver told him as his racing heart slowly calmed down.

"Sorry." The young man said, looking a little sheepish and guilty.

"Don't worry about it. How can I help you?" Weaver asked, walking back over to the table and putting the surveillance photos down on it.

"Well," Hal started, then glanced down at the papers, maps, and photos on the table. Quickly realizing that the Colonel was probably doing something important, he asked, "You're not busy with anything, are you?"

"Not at the moment. Sit down." Weaver replied, gesturing to the seat closest to Hal while he sat down in the one closest to him. The dark-haired man looked very unsure, but Weaver gave him a reassuring nod, telling him that it was okay. Slowly, Hal walked over and sat down in the chair across from the older man.

"So, what's on your mind?" The Colonel wondered once Tom's eldest son had settled in his seat.

"You were in the military, before the aliens invaded." Hal stated, looking over at him but not meeting his eyes.

Weaver felt his muscles tense up when the younger man said that. He never really liked talking about his military experience, but at the same time, he knew that everyone that was close to Hal was trying to get him to open up, to trust them, and yet, it seemed like he had chosen to talk to him. He just didn't fully know or understand why. While a part of him didn't want to talk about the topic that Hal had brought up, he did want to help him. So he answered, "Yes I was. I did tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq."

"When you were there, did you," Hal suddenly broke off, staring down at his clasped hands that were resting on the table.

Weaver gave him about a minute to gather his thoughts and continue, but when he didn't, he prompted the eldest Mason child, "Did I what?"

"When I was gone, when I was in the, ghetto, there were some, things that happened." Hal told him, not elaborating on anything or explaining anything.

"Okay." Weaver said with a slightly confused tone, though he didn't try to get more answers. He knew that Hal would open up more if and when he wanted and it was best to just be patient with him right now.

"It's just, there was so much going on, and so much that I wasn't aware of and so much I still don't know and it's like I can't understand everything that was happening and," Hal suddenly stopped when he saw the extremely puzzled expression on the older man's face and realized just how fast he had been talking and how confusing it had to sound to him, "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

"Could use some better wording, but I understand what you mean. I think." Weaver replied before he said, "You're basically saying that whatever happened in the ghetto has you confused about, something, and now you're trying to figure out what exactly was going on."

"Yeah, something like that." Hal somewhat confirmed, still not giving up any details.

"When I came back from finishing my tours, there were times it was difficult for me to know what was real, and what wasn't. I kept having, really vivid flashbacks, because of my PTSD." Weaver informed him, this time not being the one meeting the other's eyes, "And there were times, when I thought about what I went through, that I had a hard time knowing what all happened. There were a lot of things that happened that though I remembered them as clear as day, I somehow wasn't fully aware of what was going on."

"How did you get through it?" Hal wondered.

"I focused on what I knew for a fact was real. That I had two daughters that I loved. That I was fighting for my country, and fighting for innocent people. Focusing on that, cleared my mind a bit. It was still hard, but eventually, I got through it." Weaver explained, finally raising his head to meet Hal's gaze.

"Does this, have something to do with Karen?" Weaver questioned hesitantly, knowing that the human Overlord was most likely still a sensitive topic for the person across from him. Normally, he wouldn't even bring her up, but something about the way the young man was speaking and acting that made him suspect it was about Karen. Hal instantly tensed up and lowered his head when Weaver asked that. Though he never actually said so, his response told the Colonel that the answer was most definitely a yes.

"I know that, you probably still have a lot of mixed feelings about her Hal. But, I don't,"

"I've got to get going." Hal suddenly cut him off and stood up before he added, "Thanks for the talk Weaver."

Hal was out of the room so fast that Weaver didn't even have time to think of some kind of response. As he stared at the door his best friend's son just walked through, he lifted his arm to put his elbow on the table before placing his chin on his fist. He knew that could have gone better, and knew that he probably shouldn't have brought up Karen, but at least Hal had started to open up, to try and talk about what was bugging him. Despite that though, he knew that they still had a long way to go before they found out the entire truth and could fully help the young man.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It wasn't overly late by the time Tom, Ben, and Deni got back to Chinatown, but it was definitely past supper time. After sending the teenagers off to get some food, the Mason patriarch started making his way to the office where he assumed Weaver was, that's where he was when Tom left a few hours ago. If his friend and fellow 2nd Mass leader wasn't there, odds were that he would be with his daughter Jeanne. It wouldn't be that hard to track him down.

Tom never got to the building. Before he could reach it, he saw Hal walking out of the place he was going and towards the courtyard. The sight stopped him right in his tracks. For a moment, Tom watched his son, wondering what he was doing in the office building and if he should go talk to him. Quickly remembering what happened this morning when he tried to talk to his son, he decided against it.

Even after Hal disappeared from sight, Tom didn't move. It had been weeks since his son returned to the 2nd Mass but he was still so distant from everyone. There were times it was as though Hal wasn't there even though when he was literally right beside them. And nobody, not Tom, not Ben and Matt, or Maggie knew what to do about it.

"Tom, you okay?" The dark-haired man inwardly jumped in surprise, but he managed to keep it from showing as he recognized Weaver's voice. Looking over to the right, he saw Weaver coming over towards him with a concerned expression on his face.

"I tried talking to Hal earlier, and nothing. He just, kept insisting that everything was fine and said something about me being delusional for thinking otherwise." Tom informed him. Weaver nodded, letting his friend know that he heard him, but before he could actually respond, Tom continued, "I just don't know what to do. Talking to him before the invasion was already like talking to a brick wall. Now, somehow, it's worse. And it's not getting better. If anything, it's going downhill."

"Tom, the first thing that you have to understand, that everyone has to understand, is that whatever happened was clearly traumatizing to him. All the signs are there." Weaver told him after a minute or two of silence. The teacher looked over at the Colonel with a pained expression, clearly hurting at the thought of his child being hurt and traumatized before he turned to stare back at the ground again.

"Knowing that, getting him to talk about it, is going to be hard because in order to do that, he has to let his guard down."

Tom stiffened a little when the man said that, then looked over at him again and with a slightly defensive tone, he asked, "Are you saying he doesn't trust me?"

"I'm saying that Hal has constantly tried to be strong around you, around everyone because he doesn't want anyone to think he's weak, and he has to be strong in order to help you and the people he cares about. In his mind, admitting that he's struggling with something, is doing the exact opposite. It's going against all those instincts." Weaver tried to explain, tried to tell his friend that it wasn't his fault, or at least, not all of it. After all, Hal getting the feeling that he couldn't talk to his Dad didn't just show up one day but at least Tom was trying to fix that.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Tom questioned, his voice filled with frustration. He was so desperate to do something, anything that could help the situation his found himself in with Hal but was at a complete loss as to what.

"Honestly, I don't know." Weaver replied. For a moment, he debated on whether or not he should tell the father about the conversation he had with Hal just a few minutes ago, but quickly decided against it. Hal had come to him, trusted him enough to start talking about what happened, even if he revealed very little. If Weaver told Tom and Hal found out about it, odds were he'd never tell him anything again and right now, trust is what they were trying to get from the young soldier. It wasn't worth the risk, not yet.

"Maybe, try talking to him again, in a different setting, in a different way." Weaver suggested. Tom nodded his head, but didn't say anything else for a long moment, clearly deep in thought.

"Maybe what he needs is to do something that's normal." Tom suddenly came up with another idea, "That mission we've been talking to Cochise about, the Espheni base we're planning on destroying, maybe I should get Hal to come on that. It would get him out of Chinatown. I could partner him with Maggie, and his brothers. It might help him, connect with them again, in a way."

"It could. But, hasn't Hal, kind of seemed to want to keep his distance from the fight?" Weaver recalled how Tom's oldest had been acting when it came fighting the aliens that had invaded their planet.

Tom again nodded his head before he said, "I'll mention it to him. If he says he doesn't want to go, I won't make him."

This time, Weaver was the one who nodded, agreeing with Tom's plan. While Tom was getting to the point where he just wanted to confront his son about what was going on with him and what happened during those months he was separated from his entire family, especially after he saw Hal nearly freak out at the sight of those two soldiers wrestling earlier, he knew that wouldn't help. If anything, it would just make it worse. Hopefully, Hal would agree to come on their planned mission and they could get some answers.

Like he had said to Weaver, if his oldest child didn't want to go, he wouldn't make him, but Tom knew Hal better than most people gave him credit for. He knew that if he asked in the right way, the young man would agree because he would feel like he had too. Though he knew that it was a bit manipulative of him to do that to Hal, Tom was just that desperate. Hopefully it would work, because the parent had no idea what else to do if it didn't.


	17. Seeing Through The Cracks

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

**AN** – Sorry if there are parts of this chapter that seems a bit rushed, but, honestly I was feeling a bit rushed at the time. Hope you all still like this chapter though.

**Enjoy!**

Trekking through the forest in silence with his Dad, brothers, Anne, Maggie and Weaver, Hal couldn't help but wonder how exactly he had ended up here. Of course as soon as he mentally asked himself that, his brain supplied the memory of his Dad telling about this Espheni factory that was making more Mechs that were apparently going to be used in an attack against the 2nd Mass. Once his Dad explained the situation, he asked Hal to join them on their pre-emptive strike that they were planning. Hal was surprised that his Dad asked given how he had barely been involved in the war since he came to Chinatown and was going to say no but then he saw the look in the older man's eyes. It was as though he wanted to see how he was going to react and, not wanting to appear suspicious, he agreed.

Now though, Hal couldn't help but wish he had said no like he wanted to, and ever since the fighters that were coming on this mission got out of their trucks, hid them and split up into their assigned groups, it was getting worse. He had this feeling deep down in his gut that something bad was going to happen. That something was going to go horribly wrong and he couldn't brush it off no matter how hard he tried. It was messing with his head more than the presence of his family, Maggie, Anne and Weaver was. People he was extremely close to and knew were worried about him. Hal had no doubt in his mind that they would take advantage of the fact that he couldn't really walk away from them if they tried to get him to talk to them about something he didn't want to. It was only a matter of when.

"We should stop to get some rest if we're going to be up all night fighting aliens." Weaver suddenly spoke up, coming to a stop that was bare enough where they could make camp fairly easily and still be somewhat hidden. Hal did his best to not tense up when the Colonel said that. It looked like that he was about to get ambush any minute now, even though Weaver was right. They still had a few hours before they had to get into position for the attack, which they were doing at night when the darkness would cover them.

"Should probably eat something too." Anne suggested, going through her bag for the food and bottle of water she had packed.

After a few minutes in silence as everyone in the group made themselves comfortable on the ground and all started eating some of the provisions they had. Not long after they finished though, Ben stood up with a map, his water bottle and grabbed some of the others causing Hal to ask, "Where are you going?"

"According to this map, there's a river not far from here in that direction," Ben answered, pointing to the left of the clearing, "I'm going to go fill these bottles up with water."

"Good idea." Tom said as he threw his own bottle to his middle son who caught it easily. The others gave him their water bottles as well before he went on his way.

For the next hour or so, everything was fine. Ben came back with the refilled bottles and everyone filled their stomachs as it was probably going to be the last time they could do so before the attack. Hal stayed silent but the others talked. The conversation was easy and simple. It actually calmed him a little.

It wasn't until Matt, Maggie, Anne, Weaver and his Dad started to find places in their 'camp' where they could lie down and get some rest before the mission that Hal felt himself tense up. The only person besides himself that didn't seem to plan to be getting any sleep was Ben and that was because he was on guard duty. With his spikes, Ben didn't need much sleep but Hal didn't have that excuse.

"Aren't you going to get any sleep?" Matt asked when he saw that his oldest brother was lying down at all like the rest of them were.

"No, I'm good." Hal replied with a reassuring grin. Though his gaze was solely on Matt, he was aware that everyone else was looking at him.

"No offense Hal, but you look like you haven't slept in weeks." Maggie commented, her voice a mixture of teasing and worry.

Hal looked over at her for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to answer her when Weaver spoke up, "It's your mattress, isn't it?"

"What?" Hal questioned turning his attention over to the Colonel who was sitting across from him a few feet away.

"After sleeping in terrible conditions for so long, once you get home and get an actual mattress to sleep on you find you suddenly can't because you're not used to it anymore. It feels too comfortable. That's what happened to me when I came home from my tours." Weaver explained.

"Something like that." Hal quietly responded.

While it wasn't the complete truth, it was part of it. Whenever he did lie down to go to sleep, he did have a hard time finding a position where he was comfortable. That had happened even before he came to Chinatown, back when he was living in that hotel room outside of the 2nd Mass's walls. More often than not, he slept on the floor. That wasn't the major reason he wasn't sleeping now though. That would be the nightmares, the memories that haunted him in his sleep.

"Well, maybe you should to get some sleep now then." Tom told him, giving Hal a worried look.

Knowing that if he refused, the concern his Dad was clearly feeling would only get worse and if he stayed awake he would risk letting his parent, or Anne, or Weaver try to get him to talk to them about stuff he didn't even want to think about, Hal nodded and stretched down on the ground though he wasn't intending to go to sleep. If he just closed his eyes, he could pretend he was actually asleep. That way his Dad wouldn't be so worried and he wouldn't have to talk about anything he didn't want to. However, he was apparently so tired that once his eyes closed, he felt his body relax on the hard and uneven ground and began to drift off.

For the next hour, Tom stared at the only dark-haired child he had. Matt, Maggie, Weaver and Anne were all asleep and he was supposed to be too, but found he couldn't. So he sat up and just kept watch over Hal. The only person besides him that was still awake was Ben, but he was doing a quick patrol of the area to make sure there weren't any skitters or Mechs around that could find them. If they were found, then the entire mission was at risk. Tom wasn't really thinking about that though. All of his thoughts were on Hal. He had hoped that this mission would help Hal to open up around them, or at least, get to be more comfortable with them but if anything, the exact opposite had happened.

"You okay?" Tom was pulled from his reverie when he heard Anne's voice. He looked over to see the mother of his daughter still lying on her back, but she was wide awake and was staring right at him.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about him." Tom told her, looking back over at Hal. Hearing some rustling followed by a hand on his shoulder, he knew that Anne was now sitting up beside him but he kept his eyes on Hal as he continued, "I just wish that I knew what was going on, that he'd talk to me. It's times like this I wish Rebecca was here."

He saw Anne stiffen very slightly and quickly explained, "She always knew how to talk to him, always knew what to do, what to say to help him. If anyone could get through that wall of his, it would be her."

"I'm sure that he knows that you're trying, that you want to help him. When he's ready, he'll come to you." Anne told him as she moved her hand off his shoulder so she could hold his left hand.

"I hope so. I hate the idea of him dealing with whatever happened to him all by himself." Tom responded. Anne squeezed his hand again which caused Tom to give her a small smile, but then he turned his gaze back to his son. Only a minute later, his brow furrowed in worry.

"What is it?" Anne wondered, looking over at Hal like Tom was. The minute she laid her eyes on the sleeping young man though, she didn't need the former history professor to answer her. Hal was starting to twitch in his sleep, his eyes squeezing closed tightly and his expression turning to one of fear and pain, all of which were signs of one having a nightmare.

"Hal?" Tom called out to his son. The only response that the young man gave was a small groan and the turning of his head in the opposite reaction. Seeing that he was still asleep, Tom stood up and called out again, "Hal, wake up."

"Tom, maybe you shouldn't," Anne started but then stopped as Tom reached Hal's side and began to shake his shoulder. Hearing some more rustling, the doctor looked around and saw that not only had Ben returned, the others who had been asleep were now waking up, probably due to the noise.

"Hal, wake up." Tom said again, placing his hands on Hal's shoulder and gently started shaking him.

Within only seconds after that action, chaos exploded in the camp. Hal's eyes shot open, hard and cold and calculated. He moved so fast that barely anyone saw it, not even Tom. All they did know, was that it ended with Tom lying on flat on his back with Hal leaning over him, his hand around his father's throat, both breathing heavily. The minute that everyone's eyes took in the violent sight, they jumped to their feet.

"HAL!" Anne shouted as Ben literally tackled his older brother, pushing him away from their father. The doctor then rushed over to Tom, who was in the process of sitting back up.

With Tom being looked over, everyone in the group turned back to look at Hal who was also slowly sitting up. With Ben blocking their view, no one could get a clear look at him except for the middle Mason son. They could tell that Hal was starting to sit up as well and that though Ben was still tense, ready for a fight, he was letting him. Once he was fully sitting up, Ben moved to put a hand on his brother's shoulder, whether as a means of calm restraint just in case Hal did something or as an act of comfort, he didn't know, but he stopped himself when he saw the confusion in his brown eyes turn to one of horror.

"Hal?" Maggie quietly called out, taking a few steps closer to where the brothers were sitting. Hal visibly flinched before he looked up at them, letting everyone see just how shocked and horrified he was by what he just did.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to," Hal's apology came with a quiet tone, almost unheard due to his breathing speeding up.

"It's okay. It's okay Hal." Tom told him as sincerely as he could, already knowing that Hal would never intentionally hurt him. But due to how tightly Hal had held his throat, his voice was hoarse and his son could easily tell. And when Hal looked over at him and saw how Tom had his own hand up to his neck, rubbing it a little as the bruises already started appearing, he jumped to his feet and started running away from the group.

"Hal!" Tom shouted out, moving to follow him but Anne immediately pushed him back down.

"Tom no." She said. While she was sure that Tom was okay, that Hal hadn't hurt his father besides a few bruises, she still wanted to check him over just to make sure. Not to mention, she highly doubted that Hal was in a good mindset right now. Better to leave him be, to calm down without everyone watching him.

"She's right, let him go. Just give him a minute." Weaver quickly sided with Anne. For a moment, everyone stayed still and quiet, then Ben and Matt both moved over to their Dad, wanting to make sure that he was okay. Maggie and Weaver however, continued staring at the direction that Hal had run off in.

After about a minute, Maggie started walking to where she had seen Hal going. Even though she understood that Hal would want his space right now, she was positive now that they had given him too much of that lately and that the sooner he realized that what just happened wasn't his fault the better. And there was no way he was going to come to that conclusion himself. Plus, there could be skitters out there and he could end up in danger.

Whether it was because no one had noticed her leaving or because they knew they couldn't stop her, no one said a word as she walked away from their 'camp' and in the direction Hal took off in.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal didn't stop moving until he broke through the treeline and came to a small opening with the river that Ben had gone to earlier. He slowed his stride as he approached the stream before he crouched down, cupped the water with his hands and splashed it on his face. The liquid was nice and cool against his burning skin and helped calm him down. He repeated the process two more times before he wiped his face with his jacket sleeve and stood up. Seeing a log lying horizontally on the rocks, he walked over to it and sat down, his back to the trees and his face to the river.

Staring at the water, Hal tried to process what had just happened at the campsite. Everything had occurred so fast that it wasn't until it was all over that his brain told him what happened. He had been somewhat pressured into getting some rest, fell asleep, had a nightmare, his Dad tried to wake him up and he attacked him. He had actually put his hands around his father's neck and squeezed. He knew it could've been a lot worse, that he could've done a lot worse but that didn't excuse what he did and it didn't make him feel better. All day he had the feeling that something bad was going to happen but he thought it would have something to do with the attack they were launching, not something like this. And because of what just happened, he was starting to wonder if he should find a way out of this mission.

"You okay?" Hal instinctively jumped in surprise before he quickly turned around to see who had snuck up on him, his mind still going either too fast or too slow to register the voice. When Hal saw that it was only Maggie though, looking very concerned, he forced himself to relax, at least visibly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to, surprise you. I tried walking loudly so you'd hear me, but apparently it wasn't loud enough." Maggie apologized, lowering her head a little in slight embarrassment.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. And I'm fine, just needed some air is all." Hal told her, giving her a small, reassuring grin. Maggie didn't look too convinced, but didn't say anything about it which Hal was grateful for. He didn't really want to talk about what just happened, at all. Still though, there was just one thing he had to know before he tried to make sure the subject was completely dropped.

"Is my Dad alright?" Hal asked, now being the one unable to meet Maggie's eyes instead of it being the other way around.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's pretty worried about you, we all are, but you didn't hurt him. You barely touched him." The young man resisted the urge to scoff when he heard that. They both knew she was only saying that to comfort him, to make him feel better since he had just attacked his father for waking him up. There were bruises to prove it. Hal also didn't say anything to correct her either.

Instead, he just turned his back to Maggie and resumed staring at the river a few feet in front of him. Soon though, he heard the sound of rocks bumping into each other as his partner walked over to him.

As he felt her hand come to rest on his shoulder, he heard her ask, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, just thinking." Hal replied, keeping his gaze on the running water of the river, not wanting to see the worried look he knew was on Maggie's face. If he did, not only would he feel guilty for being the reason it was there, it would also make him want to tell her everything that was going on and he couldn't do that. He wasn't ready to do that, not yet anyways.

"Thinking about what?" Maggie questioned, clearly wanting some kind of answer and unwilling to settle for an assuring brush off like he had been giving her. Hal debated it for a minute before deciding to give her an answer, one that he knew she wouldn't be expecting.

"About staying behind on this mission." Hal revealed.

"What?" Maggie said in surprise as she dropped her hand from his shoulder and sat down on the log beside him.

"After what just happened, I don't think I can be trusted." Hal told her, lowering his head to stare at the rocks under his feet. True, he was still keeping some details to himself, but it was the truth. If he couldn't stop himself from physically attacking his own father because of a nightmare, what would he do in an actual attack with adrenaline flooding his body?

"Hal," Maggie started but was immediately cut off by another voice.

"Maggie, can I talk to Hal for a minute please?" The pair both snapped their heads to look over their shoulders and found Tom Mason standing about 20 feet away. Maggie looked over to Hal, wanting to make sure that he was okay with it. If he wasn't ready to talk to his Dad just yet, then she would stay with him and tell Tom to leave. Hal however, wasn't looking at her. He had turned his head back to stare at his feet but after a few seconds, he nodded once, letting her know that it was okay for her to go.

"Yeah, sure." Maggie answered. As she stood up, she reached over and gave Hal's shoulder a comfortingly squeeze, then started walking back in the direction towards their camp.

Tom watched Maggie leave, waiting until she was completely out of sight before he turned his attention back to his son. Though both Anne and Weaver had tried to get him to stay and wait for Hal to come back, he didn't listen and went anyways. He didn't want to take the chance that Hal might just leave or something, and he needed to talk to him. Needed his son to know that he wasn't upset with him. Seeing that Hal wasn't even looking at him, Tom knew that he was going to have to start this conversation.

"Are you okay?" Tom wondered, slowly walking towards the young man.

"I should be asking you that." Hal responded quietly, still keeping his gaze on something in front of him, even when Tom reached his side and sat down beside him.

"I'm fine Hal, you didn't hurt me." The minute he said that, he could tell Hal was about to protest, so he kept going, "It was my fault, I startled you. Should've known that you'd react like that if I woke you up from the middle of a nightmare."

"How could you? It's not like you have," Hal started to reply, finally looking over at him but then paused at seeing the sad realization on his Dad's face, "before."

Tom and Hal never talked about it, not once, but they both knew that they weren't very close as father and son. Tom had never been able to spend much time with Hal and Hal always kept a carefully made wall between them, stopping his father from getting too close whenever Tom tried to remedy that. It had been like that for pretty much Hal's entire life. He didn't know any different and since it had started so early, Tom didn't know how to fix it. It was Rebecca who was always there for Hal. Whenever he had a problem, she was the one he went to. When he was sick, she took care of him. When he had a nightmare, she was the one who woke him up and comforted him. She did, not Tom.

"No, I haven't. Especially not in the middle of a war against aliens." Tom admitted, causing Hal to chuckle.

"What?" Tom asked, somewhat smiling at the sound of his son's laugh even though he had no idea what was so amusing to the young man.

"Nothing it's just," Hal looked over at him, smiling as well, then asked, "did you ever think you'd ever say a sentence like that?"

Tom smiled wider and let out a breath of a laugh before answering, "No, no I did not."

A peaceful moment of silence passed between the two as they stared at the river in front of them. While Tom knew Hal would not want him to ask about what had been going on with him, he needed to know. So he interrupted the moment by asking, "How long have you been having nightmares?"

"A while." Hal quietly admitted. Tom wasn't shocked by the reveal. He had seen the signs, they all had. The circles under his eyes that only seemed to be getting darker, the not-so-subtle yawns, his movement becoming slower as though he was too tired to do anything. Then there were the times he would jump at the slightest of sounds or appear to just zone out of conversations. If Hal was having that much trouble sleeping and wasn't at the top of his game, which anyone could clearly see after what just happened, Tom didn't want him anywhere near the attack.

"Hal, if you don't want to continue on with this attack, you don't have to. You can just meet us at the rendezvous point." Tom told him. Hal clearly wasn't expecting that as he turned his head to look at him with a shocked expression.

Seeing that his father was serious, Hal lowered his head as shame covered his face, "I just, I don't think I'm up for this Dad."

Tom put his hand on Hal's back and said, "That's okay. I'm not upset, or disappointed with you. Everyone needs a break every now and then. Even strong young men like you."

Hal nodded, but continued to avoid his father's gaze. Tom moved his hand to wrap his entire arm around his son's shoulders then said, "Come on, let's get back to the others."

Again, Hal's only response was a nod, but he stood up and allowed his father to lead him back to the group.


	18. Revealed

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked it! Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – Hey everyone. I'm going out of town for the weekend for a friend's wedding, so I'm posting this chapter early. Hope you all like it. Enjoy!

**Enjoy!**

Hal leaned against one of the several trees by the road, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched waited, for either his family or for any sign that something had gone wrong. While staying behind on the attack had seemed like a good idea at the time, with each passing second he began to feel like it was a mistake. And, that he was being a coward. Even though his Dad had no problem with him wanting to stay back and nobody else in the group seemed upset or mad about it, Hal felt like he was being weak. He should be stronger than this. He should be able to fight and protect his family instead of hiding, scared of what all could go wrong.

"Hal? Are you alright?" Hal heard Lourdes's voice. He looked over his shoulder and saw her leaving the hidden Volm spaceship to come towards him.

He had broken away from his Dad, brothers, Weaver, and Maggie with Anne to come to this spot, where the ship was. His Dad and Weaver decided that not only would they leave the vehicles in the town closest to the Espheni factory so they wouldn't be destroyed in the fight and break up into groups so that if one was found by the aliens, the others could still get to the factory and destroy it, they would also have a Volm spaceship nearby so that if anyone got injured, and they all knew there would be injuries, they could get them out of the danger zone and back to the 2nd Mass as quickly as possible. Anne had come because she was the 2nd Mass's main doctor and Lourdes had decided to join her, thinking that she could also be of help.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal replied, turning back to stare ahead.

"No, you're not. And that's okay." Lourdes tried to comfort him, moving to stand right beside him, and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I just, feel useless. I want to help but," Hal broke off, not sure exactly how to explain without giving all the details.

"I know." Squeezing his shoulder tightly, Lourdes pulled him around so he was facing her before she continued, "But your Dad and your brothers are tough. They all know what they're doing. They'll be okay."

Hal nodded, knowing that Lourdes was right, but the tense feeling in his gut, the one telling him that something was wrong, refused to leave. He was struggling to find a way to explain that to the former med student but before he could, a loud explosion filled the air. In the direction that he was staring down, the area where the factory was located, the air was filled with fiery smoke.

Without thinking twice, he grabbed his semi-automatic from the tree he had leaned it against and took off running towards the factory.

"Hal!" Lourdes shouted after him, but didn't follow and Hal didn't turn back. He might not be ready to get back into the fight, but he wasn't going to let anyone hurt his family.

Hal ran down the road until he could somewhat make out the burning warehouse/factory. Not wanting to be seen by the skitters, Mechs, or Overlords, he headed into the trees for some cover and circled around a little bit. Then, he moved closer though it was hard. The area was filled with brushes, trees, roots, and dead branches on the ground he had no idea how he didn't trip over them. He stopped focusing on that though when he saw the 2nd Mass fighters shooting at the attacked skitters.

Ducking down a little so he was out of sight, he looked around for his family and for Maggie, but it was so dark. The only light was from the flames and from the Mechs. It reminded him of the night he escaped from the ghetto. He did his best to shove the memory down. He couldn't afford to have flashbacks and a panic attack right now. If he did, then there was a chance that this fight would end just like that night did. He couldn't let that happen.

Now that he was in hidden position, Hal aimed his gun at the aliens and started firing. Even though there was a fair amount of distance between him and the actual fight, most of his shots were hitting the skitters, but they didn't even notice because of the other 2nd Mass soldiers firing their own guns. As he continued to fire at the skitters, he soon saw why something in their plan had gone wrong. They knew that the place would be well guarded, but there was at least twice as many skitters, Mechs and Mega-Mechs than they thought.

Luckily, the building was on fire and in the process of destroying anything inside which is part of the plan. The only thing they had to worry about now, was killing the Espheni there and getting out alive. But more and more kept coming. It was almost like they knew that they could be attacked and had skitters and Mechs in hiding, waiting to strike. It was becoming clear that they were going to be overrun soon. Even if they just started running through the trees, they'd be hunted down easily.

Hal swore under his breath. He knew that he could do a lot more he could for the soldiers than just giving them some cover fire, but should he risk it? If the skitters and Mechs saw him and somehow told the Overlords, that would not end well. But, he couldn't just let the aliens hurt and kill more people. Quickly making up his mind, Hal slung his gun over his shoulder and stepped out of his hiding spot.

He stayed close to the treeline so that if needed, he could dive for cover, but other than that, was out in the open. Feeling the adrenaline flooding his body, he focused his attention on the skitters in front of him, seeing in his mind what he wanted them to do. Feeling something akin to a breeze brush past him, he saw the skitters start flying in the air backwards into the burning building. And he did it again and again until all the skitters around him were gone.

The sound of a Mech's gun firing up had Hal turning around to see three of the robots coming towards him. Focusing on them and what he wanted them to do, feeling his blood starting burn in his body, the Mech in front of the other two suddenly turned around and started to fire at the others. He kept control of it even when the other ones were destroyed, having it fire at the skitters that were now charging at him.

Finally, the burning in his veins had gotten too much. He couldn't keep up with controlling the Mech and lost his hold on it. Immediately, the robot turned back around and pointed its gun at Hal. Before it could fire at him though, someone shot it with one of the guns that had been modified with Volm technology. It was the only kind of weapon that could've taken down a Mech with only one shot.

As it fell to the ground, Hal saw his Dad standing behind it, his gun, one modified with Volm tech, having been pointed right at it. For a moment, Hal wondered if his Dad had seen everything he just did or if he just saw that he was about to be shot, but then his shaking legs decided they could no longer hold his weight and he fell to his knees.

"Hal!" He heard Maggie shout his name over the crackling sound of the fire as well as the guns still going off from the other soldiers still fighting. He couldn't raise his head though to see what was happening. His head felt heavy than a pile of bricks and he was so tired. He wanted to just lie down and go to sleep right there. A pair of hands landing on his shoulder and around his arm though forced him to look over to the side where he found Maggie on her knees beside him, staring at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked in a rushed but worried tone. Hal slowly managed to nod, but didn't say anything.

"What just happened? What did you do?" Another voice, a louder and angrier one pulled both Hal's and Maggie's attention the direction in front of them where they saw both Pope and Tom coming over to them. Pope had stopped once he was a few feet away, but Tom, looking just as concerned as Maggie, came over to Hal's other side.

"There's no time for that. We've got to get back to the rendezvous point." Tom told him as he helped Maggie pull Hal to his feet. One he was standing, Maggie put his arm around her shoulders and her hand around his waist to hold him steady while his Dad pulled his gun off his shoulder so he could carry it for him. Hal barely noticed that however because at that moment, he saw his younger brothers and Weaver approaching them. One look at their faces was all he needed to know that they had also seen what he had done. They now knew the secret he had been keeping from them.

Hal did his best to walk alongside Maggie instead of letting her completely take his weight, but it was hard. His legs were shaking under him, threatening to collapse again. It was taking all of his concentration and strength to put one foot in front of the other. He didn't even have the strength to lift his head up, so he just stared at the ground moving beneath him. It wasn't until he heard Anne's voice that he knew they had reached the spot where the Volm spaceship was.

"Are you guys alright? What happened?" Anne demanded as she rushed over to them, worried eyes looking them over before landing on Hal being supported by Maggie.

"Long story. I'll explain on the way to the trucks." Tom told her as he walked over to her, grabbed her hand and started to lead her back into the woods where they would have cover and could safely move back to where they had stashed the trucks miles away.

The spaceship was long gone, probably full of injured soldiers. Tom would've thought that Anne would've gone with them, but wasn't that surprised that she had stayed behind to wait for them. The next place to go was where they stashed the trucks. Once there, they would be able to get to Chinatown much faster. And once they were safe, maybe he could finally get some answers from Hal.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

"I think we're safe." Ben told the group after walking for over an hour in the thick trees. He hadn't felt any Espheni presence since the attack, but they all had wanted to get as far away as they possibly could and as fast as they could, just in case there were still other skitters or Mechs in the area. However, he was pretty sure they could stop now since he would've heard or felt them with his spikes.

"We weren't followed, were we?" Tom asked, glancing over his shoulder to see if there was any sign that the Espheni were behind them.

"Doesn't look like it." Weaver answered, looking around their surroundings while Maggie helped Hal sit down on the ground.

"Good, now that's taken care of, start talking kid. Now!" Pope demanded in a loud and threatening voice as he took a step closer to Hal.

"Pope! Calm down." Tom immediately jumped to his son's defensive, coming to stand in between the former criminal and his oldest child.

"Calm down? Your kid just used some sort of freaky magic and destroyed a bunch of Mechs as well as killing a whole horde of skitters! Did you even know your kid could do that?" Pope questioned as loudly as he possibly could. Tom was about to fire back but realized that he didn't have a good defense. So instead, he looked back over at his son.

"Hal, what happened? How did you do that?" Tom asked with a much calmer voice than the one he had used when he was talking with Pope, but Hal could still hear the fear and concern in it though.

"It's a long story." Hal replied as he looked down at the ground.

"Well, we've got all night." Pope chimed in, looking like he was about to do something stupid if the oldest Mason son didn't start talking. A quick glare from Weaver though kept him in place.

"Look, I promise, I will tell, but can we talk about it later. Right now, I really just wanna sleep for a couple of hours, or days." Hal replied, his voice extremely quiet and a little out of it. Maggie, who was still sitting beside him, saw the sweat on his forehead and how flushed his face was. Worried, she placed the back of her hand against his forehead.

"Whoa Hal, you're burning up." Maggie revealed as she lowered her hand. Hearing that, Anne, Ben, Matt and Tom immediately came over to the young man. Anne crouched down by Hal's side and placed her own hand on his forehead to see for herself if Maggie was right while the rest of the Masons stood around them. Soon, she lowered it and nodded to Tom, telling him that Maggie was correct in her observation. Hal had a fever.

"I'm fine, I just need to sleep it off." Hal insisted as Tom knelt down in front of him.

"Not until you answer some questions kid." Pope responded with a harsh tone. Tom immediately turned to glare at Pope, as did everyone else except for Hal, who was already starting to succumb to his exhaustion.

"Shut up Pope!" Tom yelled, causing his oldest to flinch due to the loudness.

"Dad," Hal waited until his father turned back to face him before he continued, "I promise, I will tell you everything, I just need some sleep."

His son's exhaustion was plain as day on Hal's face. Tom knew that even if he demanded that Hal tell him everything, he would probably pass out in the middle of it, so he nodded and said, "Alright, get some rest."

Hal didn't need to be told twice. Even though everyone was still staring at him, he was to tired to care. He just laid down on the ground and closed his eyes. He heard somebody moving close by before he felt a hand lift up his head before lowering it onto something that was a little softer than the hard ground he was lying on. He didn't have to strength to stay awake and figure out what it was or who had done it. He just stayed still and let his exhaustion claim him.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Once the Mason patriarch finished placing his coat underneath Hal's head, letting him use it as a pillow, he sat back and watched his son. Hal had fallen asleep within seconds of lying down on the grass and didn't look like he was planning to move at all for a long time. The father reached over and brushed some of his eldest's hair off his forehead, his brow furrowing a little when he felt how warm Hal's skin was, then dropped his hand with a sigh.

While Tom had no idea what had happened to Hal, or what was going on with him, he was not expecting it to be anything like he just witnessed. He never thought that somehow, the young man would have powers, and that they were apparently strong enough to take down a bunch of Mechs and skitters. He did however, somewhat understand why he didn't want to fight. Hal clearly didn't want anyone to know he had these abilities, whatever they were, and the father had no idea why. Maybe it was because he was worried that the members of the 2nd Mass would claim he was too dangerous or something.

"Tom," Weaver broke the silence the group had fallen into, but Tom quickly cut him off, saying, "Don't. I know. I can't let him pretend that nothing happened during those four months. Not anymore."

"Well if you know that, why didn't you push him?" Pope questioned, still sounding a bit angry that he was stopped from getting answers from Hal.

"Because Pope, I also know that what ever happened was bad. Anyone and everyone could see that." Tom answered as he turned to glare at the former criminal. Pope lowered his head a little, backing down slightly. Tom then turned his attention back to his sleeping son as he quietly added, "I wanted to give him time."

No one said anything for a moment, all of their eyes on Tom and Hal. Anne lifted her hand and placed it on Tom's shoulder as Maggie ran her fingers through Hal's dark hair. Ben and Pope stayed in their spots, but both Weaver and Matt walked over to the group huddled around the sleeping young man. Matt went over to sit down beside Maggie while Weaver crouched down by Tom.

"I know you don't want to force him to remember whatever happened Tom, no one does," Weaver paused, and glanced over at Pope in time to see that he was about to protest, but before he could, Weaver turned his head back to look at Tom and continued, "except for Pope, and I know that you know you have to. But you're going to be treading on very thin ice. Be careful."


	19. Questions Answered

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Glad I was still able to surprise you! Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

As the hours passed, Tom kept a watchful eye on Hal. Everyone else, besides Pope, did the same thing. As it grew later and later though, Matt drifted off to sleep, then Weaver, then Pope, then finally Maggie. Only Ben and Anne stayed up with Tom throughout the while night, despite his attempts to get them to go to sleep. Ben insisted that he stay up as not only was he the best person to guard their camp since his spikes would warn him if any Espheni were nearby, but the spikes also made it so that he didn't need as much sleep as the rest did. And Anne insisted she stay awake to keep watch over Hal.

Tom didn't have the energy or the will to push it any further than that. He knew that Ben was right, his spikes gave him a greater strength and endurance level than those without spikes, and they did warn him about nearby skitters. So letting him stay up was a logical decision even if he didn't get any rest when the others did before the attack. It also made sense for Anne to stay up as she was a doctor and Hal was running a fever before he fell asleep. It wasn't just that though.

Throughout the entire night, Tom's oldest son didn't stir, didn't make any move whatsoever. He remained peacefully asleep, which was the complete opposite of how he was that afternoon. It was nice to see Hal completely at rest, yet it unnerved the father a bit. The young man was so still that if it wasn't for the sight of Hal's chest rising and falling steadily, it would've appeared that he was dead.

As night turned into day, Hal continued to sleep. Even when everyone else who had fallen asleep woke up and ate some of the breakfast they brought, he never stirred. They all then began wondering if they should wake him as they packed up their camp, but they didn't have to. Maggie, wanting to check if Hal still had a fever, went over and knelt down beside him just in time to hear a soft groan escape his lips, followed by his eyes fluttering open.

Hal woke slowly, still feeling exhausted despite knowing he'd been asleep for awhile. It was like when he'd take a nap before he'd go on sentry duty for most of the night and would wake feeling all groggy. This time though, along with the grogginess, he had a bit of a headache and his entire body was aching. He then tried to remember what happened, recognizing the way he felt, as he felt it before but couldn't remember when and why it happened. His head was throbbing so much, he couldn't think clearly. Letting out a small groan, Hal forced his eyes open.

The young man then instinctively closed them though when the bright sun shined directly into his eyes caused the pain in his head to intensify. Suddenly, a cool hand was laying against his forehead before moving to his cheek as a familiar voice asked, "Hal? Are you awake?"

Hal turned his head to the side where the voice had come from, then opened his eyes again. It was easier and less painful this time as the sun wasn't shining into his eyes, allowing him to keep them open and to focus on the figure beside him. Maggie.

"Hi." Hal managed to croak out before he started coughing. His throat was drier than he thought it was. It felt like he had been eating sand or something.

"Here, drink this." Anne said as she came over to him, offering him a bottle of water. Hal pushed himself up, ignoring the ache in his limbs and took the water from the doctor.

"Thanks." Hal said, then swallowed a few gulps. As he did that, he noticed everyone was staring at him and just like that, the memory of what happened last night, of what he did, came back to him.

Tom, who had also walked over to his son, waited until Hal finished drinking before he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Hal replied, lowering the bottle as he put the lid back on. As he did that, Anne crouched down in front of him, pressed the back of her hand against his forehead and said, "Your fever's gone."

"Told you, I just needed some sleep." The young man reminded her of what he had told them all last night.

"Since you knew that, I take it this has happened before." Anne concluded. Hal looked up at her, then at the rest of the group who were still watching him before he sighed in resignation and nodded.

"Well, don't leave us hanging. What the h*ll was it that you did last night? And how?" Pope demanded when Hal didn't actually say anything. Tom resisted the urge to turn around and punch Pope in the face just to shut him up, but it soon became clear that he was not the only one annoyed the leader of the Berserkers.

"Pope." Weaver's voice was full of warning, telling the man that he'd better be quiet right now if he knew what was good for him.

"What? He said he'd explain once he got some sleep. He slept, and now he's awake which means it's time for him to start talking." Pope reasoned, his tone full of anger and annoyance.

"Give him some time Pope." Anne tried to reason with the criminal. A noble effort, but one that they all knew wouldn't work.

"We've been giving him time to 'fess up for nearly a month now. Hasn't that been enough?" Pope questioned, his voice getting louder and louder with every word that passed through his lips.

Tom, now completely fed up with the man's behaviour, stood up, turned to face him while protectively standing in front of Hal. As he did that, he put his hand on the gun in his belt and with a terrifyingly calm voice, he said, "Pope, that is enough."

Seeing the not-so-subtle threat, Pope backed off but didn't look happy about it at all. As Anne looked around at everyone else in the vicinity, she could see that everyone was now on edge and looked a little lost, like nobody really knew what to do now. It was Hal's expression though that unnerved Anne. Normally, he was very social and seemed to enjoy being around others. Now, it was as though he wanted to become invisible or disappear entirely. It made sense considering what was going on, but it was still a very abnormal expression on the young man's face.

"Here, let me get you something to eat." Anne said to Hal as she moved to stand up.

"No, it's okay. I'm not hungry." Hal responded, causing her to stop in her tracks as everyone turned to look at him with concern.

"Hal, you need to eat." Maggie told him after a brief moment of silence, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, I'm just not hungry." Hal insisted as he turned his head to give her a small but reassuring smile.

There was another moment of silence as everyone besides Hal exchanged looks, wondering what they should do next before Weaver took charge, "Well, since the rest of us ate already, we should get a move on. Got to put as much distance between us and the aliens as possible."

"I doubt that will be a problem. Pretty sure the kid took care of all of them last night. If there were any survivors, they'd either be running back to their Overlords or they would've found us sometime during the night." Pope commented.

"You okay to walk?" Maggie asked Hal as they both stood up, her hand gripping his arm above his elbow to help him up. The dark-haired, young man nodded and seemed relatively steady so the blonde released her hold on him.

Tom stared at his son for a few seconds, clearly still a bit worried about him, but ultimately nodded and said, "Okay, let's go."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

As they trekked through the woods, everyone was silent which surprised Hal. Considering how long they had all pushed him for answers for the last few weeks, and how they acted last night, he expected them to start asking questions again, especially since he told them he would explain after he got some rest. Nobody did though, except Pope when he first woke up, but even he was quiet now. The young man had no doubt that the former criminal wanted to hound him for more information, but that was probably the reason why he and Weaver were at the front of the group, then Matt and Anne while Hal was closer to the back with his Dad, Maggie, and Ben.

For the first half hour or so of their journey, Hal waited anxiously for someone to start asking him questions. Though he had known when he first arrived at the 2nd Mass that they would, he figured he would just try to blow it off, hoping that if he did it long enough, not only would they stop asking, they might forget all about it. He didn't want anyone to know about what happened during those months he was separated from his family, nor did he want to think or talk about it. After what happened last night though, he knew he was going to have to tell them. Then again, he might still be able to control how much they knew.

Continuing through the woods, they ended up having to go up a small, but steep hill. Hal grabbed tree branch with his left arm to keep his balance and to use to pull himself up, just like some others were doing. However, he immediately regretted doing that when his left shoulder started throbbing. Since it hadn't been hurting in a while, he had thought that it had finally healed after the abuse it suffered while he was held prisoner by the Espheni, but apparently he was wrong.

"Are you alright?" Maggie asked, seeing the pained look on his face and how he was now rubbing his shoulder with his right hand.

"Yeah, I just pulled a muscle or something." Hal assured her with a grin. She didn't look convinced but let the matter drop. Glancing around at everyone else, he saw that they were all looking at him but quickly turned their eyes away when they saw him staring them. He waited until they were all up the little hill before he finally decided it was time to tell them the truth. Or well, part of it.

"It wasn't a ghetto." Hal started, still rubbing his left shoulder, "Where I was. I have no idea what you would call it, but it definitely wasn't a ghetto. At least, not like the kind you were in."

Hal could see from the corner of his eye that Maggie was looking at him, but he knew that everyone was listening to him, so he continued, "I don't remember much of what it looked like. I was inside pretty much the entire time, we all were."

"'All'?" Tom questioned as he looked over at his son, trying to keep his voice neutral even though he was already starting to feel terrified about what Hal was about to tell them.

"Yeah, there were other humans there." Hal confirmed, taking his hand off his shoulder and shifting it around a little, hoping to shake off the soreness in it. As he was doing that, he noticed that everyone was not-so-subtly looking over at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I don't know a lot about what they were doing and planning, I just know what Karen told me." Hal warned, knowing full well that Karen could have been lying to him, even though he didn't really think she had.

"And what was that?" Pope asked, his tone filled with frustration at how long it was taking Hal to tell them what had happened.

"Karen," Hal paused briefly, feeling a little sick at the mention of her before he forced himself to continue, "she, and, at least two Overlords were in charge, I think. They wanted to create more people like Lexi. Hybrids, to use as weapons against those that were still fighting against them, and to pressure the humans into siding with the Espheni."

"But, how did they plan on getting you all to side with them in the first place? After all, you weren't harnessed and you don't have an eyebug." Ben questioned, moving a little faster so he could walk closer to his older brother.

"From what Karen said, that was still a work in progress. I guess, something was going wrong with them trying to do the same experiments they did on us on harnessed kids. The same with people who were implanted with eyebugs." Hal answered.

"And Karen just decided to explain this out of the goodness of her heart?" Pope asked with a disbelieving tone.

Hal slowed his stride at Pope's questioning, wondering how exactly to answer that without going into any details. After a minute or two of thought, he said, "Let's just say, that some, pretty bad stuff happened, and she found herself trying to get on my good side."

"What 'stuff'?" Tom asked, actually sounding terrified of the answer he would get.

"It doesn't matter. But that's why they were doing the experiments on me, and on the others." Hal responded, not glancing in his Dad's direction. He didn't think he could take the look on his face.

"How many people where there?" Weaver then asked, changing the subject much to Hal's appreciation.

"I don't know. I was either in a cell, or in the, lab, I guess you would call it." Hal told him.

"Then how do you know you weren't alone." Pope asked, his voice making it clear he didn't think Hal was telling the truth and was trying to find a way to prove it.

"Because the sound of people screaming really carries through vents and pipes." Hal answered honestly, not bothering to hide how annoyed he was getting with the long-haired, older man who seemed to live for making the entire Mason family miserable.

"Screaming?" Hal immediately regretted his answer when he heard the horror in his Dad's quiet voice. He shouldn't have let Pope get the best of him like that. But, maybe if he somewhat told them all what happened while he was the Espheni's lab rat, they'd stop asking questions.

"Dad, in what world is being experimented on fun?" Hal told him as nonchalantly as possible, finally turn his head to look at his Dad, "Plus, I saw them when I escaped."

"How did you escape?" Tom asked.

"I woke up, and I could smell smoke. Security was down, so I was able to get out of the building. First time that happened since I was brought there." Hal replied, leaving most of the details out. From the expressions on everyone's faces though, he knew he was going to have to give more than that.

"It was night. The buildings that were surrounded by the fence were on fire and a lot of other prisoners were outside. At first, I thought that they had all managed to escape their cells and were trying to get free. But then, then I saw the spaceship above the camp drop a bomb on the building I was just in and it exploded. It was just chaos. There weren't any skitters or Overlords around at all, and the other prisoners," Hal paused, trying to push down the memories of that night that were now running through his mind, then finished, "they started attacking each other."

"Why?" Maggie spoke up for the first time since they started walking.

"I have no idea. They looked like they had gone insane or something." Hal answered.

"So, how did you get free?" Ben then asked.

"When the ship wasn't dropping bombs, they were firing at us. Every time they did that, the fence around us got weaker. It actually started disappearing for a few seconds. It was just a matter of timing and running as fast as I could." Hal told him, nearly tripping on a tree branch in his path.

"Why did you want us to think you were dead?" Maggie asked the question that everyone had been wanting to ask ever since Hal told them he wanted them to keep his presence a secret.

"Considering that the Espheni tried to make me a weapon for them, tried to kill me in the camp along with the others, I, I truly thought you guys would be safer if I wasn't with you. Can't kill someone you already think is dead after all." Hal explained.

Everyone nodded, accepting his reasoning, and then they all fell silent for the next few minutes. While a part of Hal was grateful for the brief respite, he felt tense at not knowing what exactly they were going to do or ask next. He didn't have to wait long before Matt finally joined the conversation to ask, "So, what all can you do?"

"I don't know. I've hardly used my," Hal stopped, not wanting to say 'powers' because that it made sound like he was some kind of superhero or something, then settled on, "new abilities."

"Why not?" Matt asked, moving so he could walk directly beside him. Hal glanced at him, seeing that he actually looked a little excited at the thought of his oldest brother having superpowers which made him smile a little.

"Because I don't want to." Hal responded, making sure his voice sounded light-hearted.

"Why not?" Matt pressed, not seeing why Hal wouldn't want to use his powers. If he had gotten powers after all, he'd be throwing them right into the aliens' faces.

"I just don't." The oldest Mason son repeated a little more forcefully, which luckily, was enough to tell Matt to stop asking.

"When we get back to Chinatown, we should run more tests." Anne broke in, which caused Hal to come to an abrupt halt.

"Why?" Hal all but demanded to know. His tone, and the fact that he had stopped walking made everyone else stop and turn to face him.

"Hal, you were experimented on. We need to know what they did and how it's affecting your body. What they did could have serious side effects."

"Not to mention, if you're going to fight, knowing what alien powers you have would be useful." Tom chimed in. While of course he wanted to make sure that whatever Karen did to him wouldn't have any side effects, he had seen what Hal did to the skitters and the Mech last night. If he could do that again, and more, that would give them a great advantage over any future fights against the Espheni.

"That doesn't matter because I'm not going to use them." Hal replied, clearly shocking everyone from the looks on their faces. He didn't let that faze him though, he had made up his mind about his powers months ago and it wasn't going to change now.

"Not even to help us when this war?" Pope questioned, voice filled with barely contained rage as he took a step towards Hal.

"Whoa, everyone, calm down, alright?" Weaver ordered, quickly getting in between Pope and Hal, fully aware that the former criminal was about to lose any calmness and patience he had.

Tom waited until everyone quieted down before he turned back to his eldest, "Hal, I can't make you do something you don't want to do, but they do have some fair points. We need to make sure that you are okay despite what the aliens did to you, and honestly, we're at the point where we need to use every weapon we have against the Espheni before they kill us all."

For a long moment, Hal stayed quiet, thinking everything over. He wasn't sure what he expected from his family when they found out what the Espheni did to him, but then again, he hadn't been planning on them finding out at all. He didn't really know what he should do. He was pulled from his thoughts when his Dad said, "Hal?"

He looked up at his Dad, then at everyone else before he said, "One test, and that's it. Me using my powers though, that you can forget."

"Hal," Tom started, turning to continue facing Hal as he walked past him, but Weaver reached forward and put his hand on his shoulder, making him move to face him.

"Tom, don't. We pushed him enough for one day. Maybe even for a lot of days." Weaver told him, "He'll come around once he's calmer."

Tom stared at him, then looked over at Hal's retreating figure before he said, "I hope so."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Luckily for Hal, the test Anne decided to do was another blood test. She was positive that if the experiments they did on Hal gave him abilities, it should show in his blood. After all, blood was connected to every part of the human body. The minute she was done, having found nothing out of the ordinary, though apparently she could feel that something was wrong with it, Hal rushed out of there as fast as he could, wanting nothing more than to be alone.

Tension between him and his Dad hadn't gotten better since they stopped talking on the way back to Chinatown. He knew that his father was watching him and knew that not only was he still worried about him, he was also waiting for another chance to talk to him, and at the moment, that was the last thing Hal wanted. He just knew that it would be about the what all else happened at the place where he was held that he had kept to himself, and his Dad would then ask him why he was refusing to use his 'powers' and Hal didn't want to deal with that right now.

After making his escape from the infirmary, Hal found himself sitting on a bench in front of the small pond on the far side of the base. It was a fairly secluded area with a small playground near by where kids would normally be playing. There weren't many out at the moment though which made it quieter. Hal hadn't been in this area much, having been spending most of his time with either his brothers, or Lexi, or Maggie, or just alone in his room for some privacy. But he liked it here, it was peaceful.

"What are you doing over here?" A soft voice broke the silence. Hal turned his head to look over his shoulder and found Lexi coming up behind him, a curious and concerned expression on his face.

"Just, wanted some time alone. It's hard to think when everyone's staring and talking at me." Hal answered as she came closer to him. Once everyone who went out on the latest mission got back, Lexi had been filled in on what happened. Actually, Hal was fairly certain that by now, everyone knew what he had done at the Espheni base. Pope wasn't known for keeping his mouth shut after all.

"Is it okay if I join you?" Lexi asked, gesturing to the empty space beside her oldest brother.

"Sure." Hal replied, shifting over a little so she had more room. Lexi immediately sat down beside him and for minute or two, the oldest and the youngest Mason children sat in silence.

"Did Mom find anything?" Lexi then questioned, turning her head to face him, though Hal kept looking at the pond.

"She said something about the blood test feels off even though it looks normal, but has no idea what it is." Hal told her what he heard the doctor say before he had left.

For another few seconds, the two were quiet again, but then Lexi asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'd be better though if everyone stopped pressuring me." Hal responded, glancing over at her to give her a small smile before turning back to stare at the still water in front of them.

"It's just because they're worried about you." Lexi told him. When Hal didn't say anything to that, Lexi put her hand over-top his and asked, "You do know that, don't you?"

"I know." Hal confirmed, lowering his head to look down at the ground.

"This might sound strange, but I'm glad you have abilities." That got Hal's complete and total attention.

"Why?" Hal wondered, looking over at his sister with a curious and slightly defensive look.

"Because now I'm not the only one." Lexi answered, her voice sounding just a little sheepish.

Hal didn't say anything for a long moment. While he had obviously knew that the aliens had changed him, gave him his abilities, he hadn't really thought about what Lexi would think when she learned the truth. He also hadn't really thought about what it had been like for her to be the only person the aliens had given abilities too. If he thought it was lonely even though he knew that his sister had Espheni DNA, he couldn't imagine how lonely it had to have been for Lexi.

"No, you're not." Hal told her with a small grin. He then wrapped his arm around her, causing her to move closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder. He had to admit, as much as he hated that his family now knew that he had, abilities, and knew that his Dad was going to keep pressuring him to get back in the fight, he did like that it made Lexi feel better. And honestly, he felt slightly better too. It was nice to not feel completely alone like he had been. Maybe, once his family got used to everything, things would go back to normal again, though deep down, Hal knew that that wouldn't be happening. For now though, he was just going to sit beside his sister and enjoy the small bit of peace that he was sure that wouldn't last for long.


	20. Pushing Too Hard

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Aw, thanks! There will be more Tom and Hal coming up in the next several chapters, but just a warning, not all of it will be happy. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Anne struggled to keep from yelling in frustration as she looked down at the small drop of blood under her microscope. She had been testing and studying the blood sample she had taken from Hal two days ago, right when they got back to Chinatown after the attack on the Espheni factory almost non-stop and she still hadn't found anything. She knew there was something wrong with it but couldn't find what it was. It was more than just a gut feeling, though she definitely had that, she just didn't know what. It was like that old newspaper game where you were given two nearly identical pictures and had to find the difference. Maybe if she had a sample of Hal's blood from before they separated, she'd be able to see what was wrong. But she didn't.

"This is driving me nuts." Anne commented, just barely stopping herself from slamming her hands on the table.

"What?" Kadar asked, turning from whatever he was doing at a different table at the other end of the room.

"The blood sample I took from Hal." The doctor answered.

"I thought you finished with that. You said you didn't find anything." Kadar responded, coming over to her.

"I know I did, but, there's just, just something different. I don't know how to explain it." Anne responded, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Let me take a look." Kadar offered. Anne moved out of the way and waited for him to look in the microscope. He then turned to look at her and said, "I don't see anything."

"Look again, harder." Anne told him, "There's something wrong, something different, I just can't put my finger on it."

"Maybe you should run some more tests." Kadar suggested after taking another glance at the sample, though he still didn't see anything.

"I want to, but when I mentioned it to Hal, he refused and the last thing I wanted to do was start a fight." Anne said.

"Then tell Tom. He might be able to get Hal to come in." Kadar tried to come up with another idea.

"Hal's basically been avoiding everyone, not that I blame him since Pope can't keep his stupid mouth shut." Anne replied. It only took one day after they returned to Chinatown after the attack on the factory for Pope to spread the word to every single person about what had happened, or more specifically, what Hal had done.

"Well, it's either that or just continue to stare at that blood through a microscope, try and run some tests on it with our limited and makeshift technology until it's all gone." Kadar told her, gesturing to the microscope.

"I know." Anne said, staring at the device. She was out of options. She would have to either talk to Hal or Tom.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

There was a large crowd in the courtyard, which was normal as it was the middle of the day, but it definitely made it difficult for Tom to walk through it. He had just finished talking with Weaver about having more patrols set up, as there was a high chance that the Espheni would attack them in retaliation for their attack on the factory several days ago and was now trying to make his way to the other side of the camp to check on the progress on the walls. After the last attack from the aliens, they decided to make the walls surrounding them bigger and stronger.

"Tom?" The 2nd Mass leader looked over his shoulder to see Anne coming his way through the large crowd.

"Hey Anne. What's up?" Tom asked with a smile as she approached him.

"It's about Hal." Anne replied quietly so no one could really hear them. As the smile left Tom's face, she added, "I know that there's something wrong, but I need to do more tests."

Tom sighed, walked over to one of the houses a little ways away from the crowd with her following, sat down on the steps and said, "I've hardly seen him since we got back to Chinatown. Pope didn't even bother trying to keep quiet about what happened, and some of the other fighters saw what Hal did too. I don't think there's anyone in Chinatown who doesn't know what he did and what he can do."

"Some days, I really want to punch Pope." Anne revealed, sitting down beside him.

"Only some days?" Tom questioned with a small grin.

Anne let out a small laugh at that before getting serious again, "Tom, we need to know what the aliens did to Hal. What if whatever they did ends killing him? What kind of side effects does it have? We need to know."

"Anne," Tom suddenly stopped, staring at something from over her shoulder. She turned around to find Pope only five feet away and watching them.

"No, no. Keep talking Professor. I think I speak for the entire 2nd Mass when I say that we should know exactly what the skitters and fish-heads did to your boy." Pope said, crossing his arms over his chest, a somewhat amused look on his face.

"Pope, it's none of your business." Tom tried to get the former criminal to butt out, though he knew that nothing short of him being physically dragged away would make him leave if he didn't want to.

"If your kid is putting everyone here in danger, then it's actually everybody's business. Has he started talking yet?" Pope asked, no longer appearing amused.

"Pope, stop treating Hal like he's an enemy. He's not. If anything, he's a victim." Tom argued. Pope raise his eyebrows for a second, then leaned down.

"No Tom, he's a survivor. And you never, ever, trust a survivor until you know what they did in order to survive." Pope said, then stood up straight and added, "A survivor's hands are hardly ever clean, especially in a warzone. And victim or not, he still betrayed everyone in Charleston. You really think the aliens can't make him do that again?"

Without waiting for a response, he turned around a left. Once he was several feet way, Anne looked back to the former history professor and said, "Tom, he's got a point."

"I know, I, I'll try talking to him again." Tom told her, now looking down at the ground. Anne put a hand on his back and laid her head on his shoulder. She knew that Tom was struggling with this whole situation and that while it might be easier to just ignore it all, that wasn't what was best for everyone involved. They simply needed the answers that only Hal could give them.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal wasn't sure if he wanted to walk faster or slower as he headed through Chinatown to his Dad's office. He had been doing his best to stick to the walls and avoid the crowds, but that only worked for the first minute or two before he was noticed by the other members of the 2nd Mass and started receiving the glares and fearful looks. It made him want to move quicker so he could get away from them, but then he'd get to his destination sooner and he wasn't sure he wanted that either. In fact, he'd almost rather be out in the crowds and deal with their stares and their gossiping. Almost.

Much too soon for his liking, he reached the door to his Dad's office. Hal didn't really know what his Dad wanted to talk to him about when he asked him to come see him tonight at lunch, but he had a pretty good idea. He knew if he simply refused his Dad's request or just didn't show up, it would make things worse which was why he was here, but now he was tempted to run away. He ignored it though and entered the room, finding both his Dad and Anne sitting at the small table, clearly waiting for him.

"Hey." Hal somewhat announced himself as he walked through the doorway. While he had no doubt that Anne had some part to play in this 'meeting', he didn't expect to actually see her here.

"Hi Hal, come on in." His Dad responded. Despite the uneasy feeling spreading through his body, Hal shut the door and as he came closer to them, he asked, "What's going on?"

"We need to talk." The 2nd Mass leader told him, gesturing to the chair across from him with his hand. Reluctantly, Hal sat down.

"About what?" The eldest Mason son wondered, though he was now 99% sure of where this conversation was going due to Anne's presence.

"About what happened, while you were in the, um," Tom paused, trying to think of a word to call the place he had been held before picking, "ghetto."

"Dad…" Hal started then stopped, unsure of exactly what to say to get out of this.

"Hal, I know you don't want to talk about it. We both do, and we do understand, but when you did tell us some of what happened, you said that the other prisoners started attacking each other, that it was like they went insane. If that's a side effect of what the aliens did to you, we need to know." Anne chimed in.

"It's been months. I think if I was going to lose my mind, that it would've happened by now." Hal told her.

"Maybe, or maybe they had been doing those experiments for a while before you were brought there and therefore, the side effects manifested for them but hasn't for you yet." Anne pointed out. Hal didn't really have an argument for that. He had no idea how long Karen and the other Overlords had been running that experimental camp before he arrived.

"Haven't you found anything from that blood test that you did?" Hal questioned. It had been days since he let her take a sample of his blood but she never told him what she had found.

"No, no I haven't." Anne admitted, sounding disappointed which surprised him. Shouldn't finding nothing be a good thing?

"Well then, doesn't that mean I'm fine?" Hal wondered.

"No because we know you were experimented on, and have these crazy powers. I need to run more tests." Anne responded, now beginning to sound very frustrated at his unwillingness to cooperate.

"We made a deal." Hal reminded her, letting his own frustration show.

"Well, it needs to be altered." Anne told him, her voice getting louder.

"Both of you, calm down." Tom finally cut in when he realized this was about to get out of hand. He knew that Anne was worried about Hal and really wanted to find out what was going and that Hal would not like that at all, but he didn't expect both of them to almost get into a screaming match about it.

Suddenly, the door opened and Weaver walked in, looking concerned. His eyes examined the room before he asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing." The father quickly replied while both Anne and Hal continued to stare at each other.

"Doesn't sound like it." Weaver responded then added, "If you guys are going to fight, you might want to keep it down."

At that, both Anne and Hal turned their eyes downward, almost like they were both feeling a little ashamed at how they were acting. Now that they both seemed a little calmer, Tom turned to his son and said, "Hal, I know what I, what we agreed to. But we're worried about you. We just want to make sure that you're okay."

"I told you, many times, that I am fine." Hal continued to say what he had been ever since he came back to the 2nd Mass.

"Dad? Hal?" Everyone in the room turned their heads to find that Weaver had left the door open and now Matt, Ben, and Maggie were coming in. Instantly, they knew that something serious was happening and grew worried. As Maggie walked over to Hal's chair, she asked the same question Weaver did only a minute ago.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing guys, you go back out and do whatever you were doing." Weaver tried to get the newcomers out of the room. Though he didn't know yet what the conversation between Tom, Hal, and Anne was about, he knew that they were having it privately and behind closed doors for a reason.

"No." Matt immediately told them with a cold and firm voice that no one had ever heard him use before.

"Matt," Tom started only for his youngest son to cut him off.

"No, we're staying here. We want to know what's going on." Matt said, crossing his arms in front of him. While Ben and Maggie didn't say anything, the expressions on their faces made it clear that they agreed with him.

"It's nothing Matt. We are just talking about running some more tests to make sure that Hal is okay." Anne tried to assure him, tried to assure all of them, feeling responsible that they were now there. She knew that Hal would fight her on this, which was why she wanted to talk with him privately and with Tom there to help her, but she was the one who lost her patience first, she was the one who raised her voice and because of that, this conversation was now becoming more public than any of them had wanted.

"Which aren't needed because I'm fine." Hal chimed in, shooting the doctor a glare, making it clear that just because his siblings and Maggie were here didn't mean that he was going to back down. Not yet at least.

"Hal, you can't tell us that the other prisoners were exhibiting dangerous side effects of what Espheni did and not expect us to be worried about the same thing happening to you." Anne told him, trying to stay calm.

"If they were that dangerous, why weren't they locked up?" Ben suddenly asked, getting everyone's attention.

"What?" Hal wondered what his younger brother was getting at.

"You said that a bunch of prisoners were outside when they started bombing. Why were they even outside in the first place? You had said you were all kept locked up. So how did they get free?" Ben inquired, giving more detail as to what he was getting at.

"All the skitters and fish-heads were gone. There was no one guarding the place." Hal answered.

"And they left the doors unlocked?" Weaver asked. When everyone turned their gazes to him, he explained, "Because if they were bombing the place, that means that they wanted to destroy all evidence of what they did. It would be easier to leave them all locked in their cells before blowing the place up."

"I don't know Weaver. I wasn't in that building when it happened." Hal replied, hoping that he would drop it, but apparently that was the wrong thing to say when he heard his Dad say, "What?"

"There were a couple of buildings. I wasn't in the one where the cells were when they started dropping bombs." Hal informed him.

"What building were you in?" Tom asked. Hal tried to keep his face passive to hide the growing feeling of dread in his stomach. This conversation was going down a path he never wanted to go. He'd actually rather continue fighting with Anne about doing more tests, actually would rather agree to let her if it meant he wouldn't have to talk about this.

"Dad," Hal started to try and calm down his father, but apparently, he was having none of it.

"What building were you in?" Tom repeated his questioned, his voice a lot harsher, making it clear that Hal wasn't walking out of this one.

"I was, in their," The young man paused, slumped down in his chair a little, making himself look a little smaller before revealing, "I was in the building that was basically their infirmary."

"What? Why?" Tom asked, his harsh voice filling with worrying.

"It's not that big of a deal, Dad." Hal responded, beginning to feel exhausted with this whole thing.

"Stop saying that Hal, because it is a big deal." Tom slammed his fist down on the table when he finished his sentence, making everyone in the room jump. He then leaned closer to Hal and demanded, "Why were you in the infirmary Hal?"

**AN** – And yes, I am indeed cruel enough to leave it there. It was going to be way too long if I kept going, so this whole scene is in two chapters. Also, I know that Anne might be a bit OOC, but it will be explained in the next chapter which will be up in a week. Hope you liked this chapter!


	21. Tearing at the Seams

**Disclaimer **– Still own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! You know me and my cliffhangers, they go where I go lol. Hope you like this chapter!

**To heather mcdaniels **– Thanks for your review! Updates are every Saturday unless I'm gone without my computer. If that happens, then I upload early. Depending on how much I write though, I might change it to twice a week. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

_So look me in the eyes, tell me what you see, a perfect paradise, tearing at the seams – __**Bad Liar,**_**Imagine Dragons**

**Enjoy!**

Hal really wished right now that one of the powers he got was the ability to instantly teleport himself to someplace else. He should've just stayed in his room instead of actually coming to meet his Dad. While that might have made him and Anne upset, at least then, no one would overhear them talking/yelling and come in to see what was going on. But he did come and the others did overhear and he had no idea what to do to get out of it. He recognized that look on his Dad's face. The older man was not going to let this go.

"Why were you in the infirmary Hal?" Tom demanded again, taking a step closer to Hal which caused him to back away. He was no longer looking worried, but angry and forceful. It was actually a little terrifying.

"It doesn't matter." Hal responded, doing his best to not show just how panicked he was really feeling.

"Yes it does." Tom insisted, either not noticing or not caring about the fearful look in his son's eyes that he was trying to hide. If Hal had to guess, it was probably because his Dad was too focused on getting answers to think about anything else, not that he really tried to see how he was feeling before though.

Luckily, the others in the room seemed to notice because Weaver stepped forward, put a hand on the father's shoulder and said, "Tom."

"Did it have to do with your shoulder?" Everyone looked over at Anne when she asked that. Seeing that she got everyone's attention, she continued, "I've noticed you've been favouring it every now and then."

He didn't think it was possible, but Hal somehow tensed up even more than he already was. He was surprised that Anne noticed that as he didn't think it was that obvious that he was favouring his shoulder. Then again, she was a doctor and ever since he came back to the 2nd Mass, he had been watched by practically everyone. He just wished she kept it to herself, or waited for another time to bring that up because her words got his Dad's attention on him again.

"Hal, what happened?" Tom asked as he turned back to Hal, his voice now more desperate than angry.

"Nothing." Hal insisted once again.

"Stop lying to me." Tom practically shouted in Hal's face.

"Of all the times I've lied to you that you didn't care about you suddenly decide to care about this?" It was a low blow, and Hal knew it, but he was hoping that it would stun his Dad enough that he could escape the room. When he looked to the door though, he saw Ben standing right in front of it, clearly blocking him.

"Hal…" Tom started but didn't really know what else to say. As much as it hurt, he knew Hal was right about what he said. Yet he also knew that he was just bringing that up now because he was trying to get him to stop asking questions.

"Look, it's not that big of a deal, okay? Let's just drop it." Hal told him as calmly as he possibly could, thinking that maybe if he was calm, his Dad would calm down too. However, it did the exact opposite.

"Yes it is a big deal." Tom responded.

"Tom, calm down." Weaver once again tried to intervene. At this point though, the other 2nd Mass leader was sick and tired of being trying to be patient, of being told to calm down, of his son trying to push him away.

"You are not leaving this room until you tell me what happened." Tom shouted right into Hal's face. Hal stared at him for a minute, then looked at the others. They all looked torn between wanting to try and calm down the whole situation and wanting Hal to actually tell them what happened. There was no getting out of this, not anymore.

"I tried to escape, not long after they brought me there." Hal said, looking down at the floor, picking an old stain to focus on, "The Overlords didn't like that so they…"

"They…" Tom repeated Hal's last word slowly as realization dawned on him, filling him horror.

Quickly sensing that his Dad, and probably everyone else in the room figured out what he didn't say, Hal continued, "But at that point, they had already given me powers. I used them to try and escape again."

"What happened? They still managed to stop you?" Weaver questioned, not seeing how Hal, with his powers, wasn't able to get free.

Hal glanced over at him, then shook his head and said, "I stopped myself."

"Why would you do that?" Tom wondered. He had known for a while that whatever Hal went through while being trapped in the ghetto or camp or whatever you want to call it was bad, but with the added knowledge that his son was tortured there and yet stopped himself from escaping made no sense.

"I lost control, and I," Hal stopped again, avoiding everyone's eyes. If he looked nervous to the other people in the room before he started talking, he looked terrified now.

"Hal, what happened?" Tom asked as he put a comforting on his son's shoulder, a little scared by what the answer was. He had never seen Hal act like this before and he had no idea what to do about it.

"I," Hal started, then stopped and looked down at the ground. He couldn't meet his Dad's eyes, not when he could feel his eyes swell up with tears, not when he was about to tell him the truth. Taking a deep breath, he said, very quietly, "I killed a harnessed kid."

"What?" Tom's voice was filled with shock and his hand dropped from his son's shoulder as he took a step back.

"I don't really remember much but, I think he was trying to stop me and I," Hal paused again, wishing this whole thing wasn't happening. Since it was though, Hal continued, still looking at the ground, "I broke his neck, before I, snapped out of it. Karen found me and brought me to the infirmary building. I was there until the Espheni started bombing the place. After that had happened, I decided I'd never use my powers again."

The entire room was completely silent, a silence that was starting to make Hal feel like there was an elephant sitting on his chest. He wondered if anyone could make out that he was struggling to breathe. Since it was so quiet, he doubted it would be hard for anyone to hear. He did his best though to control it, to even it out, to remain calm. Freaking out right now would just make things worse, he could lose control.

"Hal, I," His Dad pulled his attention back to him.

"You what?" Hal asked harshly, finally looking up at him, letting any and all anger he had been keeping locked up inside him out a little, just enough to push his Dad away. From the look in his eyes, he knew that he had succeeded.

"Look, now you guys know everything. So can you just please leave me alone?" Hal asked. Without looking at anyone else or giving them time to answer, he turned and stormed out of the room. Ben, who was still standing by the door, didn't move out of the way but didn't try to stop his brother at all.

"Hal!" Tom finally called out about a minute after Hal had already left, the shock dying down enough for him to realize what just happened. He moved to go after him, but Weaver's grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Tom no. Let him go." Weaver told him, "Just give him some time alone right now."

The former history professor wanted to fight him, but didn't. He knew that Weaver was right. Everything was so messed up. The whole point of this was to just talk to Hal, to explain to him that they wanted to make sure he was okay, that that was why Anne wanted to run more tests. Yet somehow, they ended up in a screaming match because Tom couldn't stand not knowing what happened to his oldest son and demanded that Hal tell him everything, and he made him do it in front of his brothers, Maggie, Weaver, and Anne.

"Maggie." Tom's attention was turned to the blonde when he heard Anne's voice, just in time to see her walking out of the room. Though she didn't say anything, everyone knew exactly where she was going and no one tried to stop her. No one could stop Maggie when she set her mind on something. And if there was anyone that Hal would listen to, anyone's presence who Hal would accept right now, it was her.


	22. Sorry for the Burden

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your reviews! I'm glad you are liking the story and I am so glad that you enjoyed my others stories as well! I hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – And I've returned with the next chapter. Line below is from the song _Burden_ by Subtact. Hope you all like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

_Now you're carrying the weight of, mistakes and notions that were not thought through, and I'm sorry for the burden, of lessons I would not have without you_ – **_Burden_**, **Subtact**

By the time Hal got to his room, he was practically hyperventilating. It started happening as he was walking away from his family, when the enormity of what he just revealed to them suddenly started crushing his chest. When he got to the building where his room was, his ears started ringing and by the time he was actually in his room, he was light-headed and dizzy, his eyesight completely blurred as his heart started to beat so fast it felt like it was about to race right out of his chest.

Hal quickly shut the door before leaning his back against it, then slid down it to sit on the floor. He couldn't breathe, couldn't really hear, and could barely see. Panic completely over took him as he struggled to control his breathing. When he felt the familiar burning in his chest and through his veins, the panic immediately increased as Hal realized that he was about to lose control of his abilities.

In a desperate attempt to regain control of himself, Hal clenched his jaw shut tightly, refusing to take a breath for a few long seconds as he wrapped his arms around his legs, rested his head against his knees and closed his eyes. Then he took a deep breath before waiting another long moment before exhaling and took another deep breath.

As Hal continued the process for what felt like forever, slowly, the burning subsided and his breathing relaxed. His heart also slowed down, going back to its normal pace. The ringing in his ears then stopped, but Hal didn't open his eyes just yet, fearful that if he did and it wasn't back to normal, the panic would once again come back. Soon though, he slowly raised his head and opened his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief when he realized that his eyesight was also back to normal. This wasn't the first time he had a panic attack, at least, that's what he thought it was called, but it still sucked all the same.

Once he started to feel a bit better, though a lot more tired, Hal stood up and made his way over to his dresser. He couldn't stay here with his family anymore. Now that they knew what he had done, they wouldn't want him around. Who would want a killer around anyways? And if his Dad kept trying to make him use his abilities to fight the aliens, Hal would just bring more trouble once Karen got wind of it. He couldn't stay in Chinatown, he had to leave.

Hal pulled out the empty duffle bag he kept one of the empty dresser drawers and placed it on the ground before going through the other drawers to grab his clothes. The fighter stopped when he heard a small knock on his door. The person on the other side didn't wait for his response as they opened the door.

"Hal, it's me." Maggie quietly announced herself as she entered the room.

"What do you want Maggie?" Hal questioned, still keeping his back to her though he didn't resume packing his bag just yet.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Maggie answered, eyeing Hal carefully, the tension in his shoulders and the slight shaking in his arms becoming visible, "Clearly you're not."

"I'm fine. I just want to be alone." Hal told her, hoping that she would leave. He couldn't handle being pushed right now. He had been pushed and pressured enough tonight. If she didn't leave, if she kept trying to get him to open up, he knew that the odds of staying in control were slim. Deciding to ignore her, he resumed going through the dresser drawers for his stuff so he could keep packing.

"What are you doing?" Maggie asked, trying to figure out what Hal was up to at the moment.

"Nothing." Hal answered as he threw more of his stuff on the bed beside the bag.

"You're packing." Maggie quickly realized, then immediately put the pieces together, "Wait, are you leaving?"

"I should never have come here in the first place. Should've left the minute I knew you guys were okay." Hal told her, finishing his task of emptying the dresser then moving towards the bed so he could put it all in his bag.

"No Hal. You didn't do anything wrong. If you had stayed away, we would've thought you were dead." The blonde told him, coming over to stand near him.

"Me being here is just causing too many problems." Hal said, keeping his focus on his task.

"For who? Us, or you?" Maggie's question caused Hal to pause for a moment, thinking about how he should answer that. He briefly wondered if he was just leaving because he was scared how his family was going to react now that they knew the truth, and while he agreed that might be a part of it, there was more to it than that. If the aliens realized he was there, they could go after his family, and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"For everyone." Hal finally answered, continuing to empty his dresser of his few belongings.

"Hal, stop." Maggie told him, seeing that he was still packing. When he didn't stop, she stomped over to him, pulled his clothes out of his arms and onto the floor as she shouted, "I said stop! Just stop!"

The young man turned to glare at her, and Maggie took a breath to calm herself. While she was getting angry and frustrated with Hal, getting him mad was only going to make things worse. Once she was calmer, she looked him straight in the eyes as she said, "I get that you are freaking out, you have every reason to be, but you need to calm down and think for a minute."

"I'm not freaking out." Hal practically yelled in her face, furious that she could see right through his defenses and was calling him out on it. Maggie didn't so much as flinch at the loudness, having seen the denial coming from a mile away. It only took a second for Hal to realize at how loud and rude he just was, causing a brief look of guilt to shine in his eyes before he put his guard back up, not willing to show any sign of backing down at all.

"Hal, you went through something terrible, and horrific and have been trying to forget and deal with it ever since. And just a few minutes ago, your Dad forced you to reveal it all, in front of your brothers, your sister, Anne, Weaver, and me. Are you seriously telling me you aren't freaking out at least a little bit?" Maggie questioned, and Hal didn't repeat his insistence anymore. It wouldn't do any good because he knew that Maggie wasn't going to drop it.

"I get it Hal. When I told you about my past, I got the urge to run too." Maggie continued when Hal stayed quiet and lowered his head, "But I didn't, because I couldn't just leave until I knew how you would react and if we could move forward. You can't just up and leave because you're scared how your family is going to react now that we know what happened."

"I never wanted any of you to know." Hal said quietly, causing Maggie to place her hand on his shoulder.

"I know you didn't, but you had to know that we would've found out sooner or later." Maggie told him. Hal then shrugged off her hand and walked over to the other side of the room.

"Hal?" Maggie called out, though she didn't make a move towards him.

"I killed a kid, Maggie. I did that." Hal stated with such a broken voice as he sat down on the foot of the bed.

"You didn't mean too Hal. And he was harnessed. Odds are that kid would've tried to stop you, could've hurt you. He might have even killed you. It was self defense." Maggie tried to get him to believe, moving to sit beside him but kept herself from touching him.

"But it's not the kid's fault. He was being controlled by the Overlords." Hal immediately protested, glancing up at Maggie only for a second before looking back down at the ground.

"I know. But it's not your fault either. You were injured, drugged, scared, and were being attacked. You did what you had to do to survive." Maggie insisted.

"But at what price?" Hal wondered, lifting his head to glance at her for only a second before he lowered it again and looked back down at the ground. Her instincts told her to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight, or at least, put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but since he had walked away from her last time she did that, she stayed still.

"Hal, show me." That got Hal's immediate attention. His head snapped up so fast that Maggie briefly wondered if he would get whiplash from that, but she brushed off the thought when she saw Hal's intense brown eyes staring into hers.

"What?" Hal asked, completely confused and shock by what Maggie was asking from him. Even though she didn't say, he knew exactly what she was talking about. She wanted to see his scars.

"Show me what you are still hiding." Maggie repeated her request.

"Maggie," Hal quietly started to protest, already feeling more vulnerable than he was comfortable with at the moment. He had no idea how she would react to the sight of them, what she would think of him, and that terrified him. He then stood up and walked over to the corner of the room.

"Don't shut me out Hal, please." Maggie pleaded, also getting up to her feet, though she didn't walk towards him. Despite the sick feeling in his stomach, and the amount of fear and dread flooding his body, Hal started to pull off his shirt to show Maggie what else the Espheni did to him.

As Hal pulled his shirt up and off, Maggie felt the air disappear from her lungs. She clenched her jaw shut tightly to keep from making any sort of noise as the scars on Hal's back became visible. She knew it was coming, had put the pieces together a while ago, but to actually see them was something else.

There were four scars on his back. One, on his left shoulder blade about an inch long, like a stab wound. Another scar started on his right shoulder before going down diagonally on his back to his left side, ending at the bottom of his ribcage, almost like someone sliced his back. Then, there was a small one above his right hip, another stab wound probably. The other, started just above that stab wound before going up diagonally until it hit his spine.

Maggie tried to keep her breathing even at the sight. Though she was feeling the urge to scream in anger and cry in pain that the man she loved had endured this, she knew that it wouldn't help Hal. The young man waited another moment before he turned around to face her. If she didn't think things could get worse, she was immediately proven wrong.

Five more white scars stood out clearly on Hal's torso. There was one on his left shoulder, in the same place and roughly the same size as the one on his back, confirming to Maggie that it was a stab wound, a stab wound that had gone right through him. On the right side of his rib cage, there were two other scars, both about three to four inches long fairly close together. There was another scar nearly identical to them on the left side of Hal's rib cage as well. The other scar was on his lower stomach, not far from his left hip that was around two inches long.

Continuing to bite back a sob, and fighting tears, Maggie slowly walked over to Hal, going around the bed as she did so. Hal didn't need her tears, her pity, her guilt right now. He obviously had enough of his own. What he needed right now was someone to lean on, so Maggie pushed away the pain and guilt and focused instead on her anger at the person who caused this, using it as strength.

Hal was growing more and more nervous with each passing second. If he looked up at her, he knew he could probably tell what she was thinking or feeling, but he couldn't bring himself to raise his head. He was terrified of what he would see. With his head lowered, he didn't notice that she was coming closer until she was standing right in front of him. He still didn't look up at her though, not even when he saw her lift her arm and place her hand over the scar on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna kill her." Maggie whispered with venom through her clenched teeth. She was already kicking herself for letting Hal stop her from shooting Karen that night in the woods, especially when he finally told her and his family everything that Karen did to him. Seeing the scars for herself, Maggie knew that that there was no way she'd let the human Overlord get away with everything she had done again.

"You'd have to get in line." Hal replied quietly, looking down at the spot where Maggie's fingers were still touching the scar on his upper chest. He might have stopped Maggie from killing Karen months ago, thinking that maybe she could be saved, but after what Karen and the aliens put him through, he was more than willing to kill her himself. Even if there was still some humanity in her, it wasn't strong enough to go against the Overlords. She wasn't going to stop.

"Hal, I know that what all happened there still haunts you, but the important thing is that you survived. It's over now." Though Hal knew that she was right, that he was safe now, he couldn't help but feel that it wasn't over. Not until Karen was dead and the war was over. He didn't say anything about that though. Instead, he walked away from her and back towards his bed.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. My Dad," Hal started as he sat down on his mattress, then stopped, not really wanting to think about what all just happened with his Dad. Maggie gave him a sympathetic look, though he didn't notice as his head was in position to stare at something in front of him though he was clearly staring into space.

Maggie moved towards him and sat down beside the young man as she said, "Wait."

"What?" Hal asked, turning his head to look at her, letting her see his confused expression.

"Wait for your family to process what you told them, and talk with your Dad in the morning. If it's bad, then I won't stop you from leaving." Maggie explained. She waited for Hal to nod as he lowered her gaze, thinking it over before she added, "I will however, go with you."

Hal's eyes immediately snapped up to lock with hers as he protested, "Maggie, I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, and I'm not offering. I'm telling you. I will be going with you. I'm not letting you go through any of this alone. Just wait until morning." Maggie replied. Hal stared at her for a moment, wanting to get her to change her mind. He couldn't let her risk her life by coming with him. He didn't though, because he knew that it was her decision and that there wasn't anything he could say or do to change her mind once she made it up.

"Okay." Hal quietly agreed. Maggie still wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she wasn't sure if he was in a state to accept such an action. So, she made up her mind to leave and let him get some sleep, somewhat positive that he wasn't going to leave the minute she was gone.

"See you in the morning then." The blonde said, then stood up and walked towards the door.

"Maggie?" Hal's voice immediately caused her to stop and turn back around to face him, "Can, can you stay with me, tonight?"

Maggie nodded, and tried to keep her expression controlled despite the fact that she was actually extremely happy that he wanted her to stay with him. She had missed being with him so much over the last several months. It broke her heart though that it had come up under these circumstances. While he was doing his best to keep himself guarded, she could easily see how vulnerable he really was. The blonde didn't say anything about that though. She just closed the bedroom door and walked back over to him.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom sat in the chair at the table, staring off into the distance, his mind millions of miles away. He wasn't even really aware what everyone else was doing. He was in too much shock over what had just happened, over what Hal had just told them.

The father had always known that whatever happened to his eldest was bad. He knew that before Hal even revealed that he had powers, he could tell from the way he was acting. And he had firsthand knowledge of what it was like being the aliens' prisoner. But he never, ever, could have imagined how bad it was for Hal, what he all went through. Not his son, not his strong, protective, optimistic boy. He was one of the last people of the planet who deserved that.

"Tom? Tom, are you alright?" The professor was finally shaken out of his reverie when Anne came over to him and shook his shoulder.

"Um, yeah, yeah, I'm um," Tom tried to assure her, then decided to just say what was on his mind, which turned out to be a swear.

"Sorry." Tom quickly apologized when he realized what he had said, in front of his two younger boys no less. Sure, they had probably heard that and worse, but he had always tried to not curse in front of his kids, even as they got older.

"I think we can excuse that due to the circumstances." Anne teased, though it didn't reach her eyes at all.

"Now we know what happened, what do we do?" Matt wondered, the shocked and hurt expression still on his face.

With a sigh, Anne said, "I know I sound like a broken record, but I still think that we should find out how the Espheni gave him his powers. It could have damaging effects on his body."

"I agree that that is important, but we also need to think about what's best for the 2nd Mass." Weaver spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Anne questioned. Knowing exactly what the Colonel was talking about as they had talked about it earlier, Tom lowered his head and waited for his friend to answer her.

"I know that none of us want to think about this, but we have to consider the very real possibility of Hal being a threat." Weaver answered, himself sounding upset that he was bringing this up.

"Hal wouldn't betray us. Not of his own free will and Anne already checked him for eyebugs." Matt quickly reminded, clearly angry that Weaver would suggest that his big brother would ever turn against them.

"I know Matt," Weaver replied with a calm and sympathetic voice, "but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about what could happen if he loses control of his powers. Or if Karen or another Overlord finds out he's here. I think we all remember what happened when Karen and her Overlord wanted Ben. What would they do to get Hal?"

No one said anything to that. Until Hal told them what had happened, they never really understood why he was so insistent that his presence was kept secret, and they never thought about what the aliens might do to get him back. Sure, they all sort of wondered what could happen if Hal used his powers and lost control. Since he was so against him using them though, they didn't think that much of it. Pope probably did, but he seemed to be more concerned about the possibility that Hal had secretly sided with the Espheni even though Hal's family and friends knew that wouldn't happen. But what would Karen do if she found out he was alive and here in Chinatown?

"Do you think they'd go so far as attacking us just to get him?" Matt asked worriedly.

Ben lifted his head to stare at the adults, waiting for their response to his younger brother's question. He still felt guilty for putting everyone in danger that night almost two years ago and he didn't want Hal to go through something like that. But he also didn't know what to think about Hal right know. As much as he felt bad for his big brother, the knowledge that he killed a harnessed kid weighed on him. That kid was innocent, it wasn't his fault.

Weaver, Anne and Tom looked at each other for a few seconds, then Weaver turned back to Matt and said, "I don't know, but we have to prepare for that possibility."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal and Maggie laid silently in the bed beside each other. They were both lying on their backs close to each other, but weren't touching. Maggie tried to go to sleep, but couldn't. Her mind wouldn't stop racing. It was like her brain was overloaded with information and was now trying to process everything. If she felt that way though, she could only imagine how Tom, Ben, Matt, and especially Hal were feeling.

Slowly, Maggie turned her head to look at Hal. Though his eyes were closed and his breathing sounded even, she could tell he was still awake. He was lying perfectly straight, too straight, and was way too still. Hal wasn't really a restless sleeper, unless of course he was having a nightmare, but he was never this still. She watched for a moment, trying to see if he was indeed trying to fall asleep and just couldn't, or if he was just pretending so she wouldn't try and talk to him anymore.

"How long as it been since you actually slept?" Maggie suddenly broke the silence, causing Hal to turn his head to face her. It was something she had been wondering for a while, as every time she saw him, she was sure the circles under his eyes were getting a little darker.

"How do you know I wasn't asleep just now?" Hal asked with a small smile.

"We lived together in Charleston, remember? I know how to tell when you're actually asleep or not." Maggie reminded him, returning his smile.

"I slept last night. Only for about two hours, but I did sleep." Hal informed her, and Maggie dropped her smile as a worried expression came on her face.

"Is that all you've been getting? Two hours every night ever since you came back?" The blonde questioned, the worry in her voice matching the worry on her face.

"And a bit before then, yeah." Hal answered honestly.

"Hal, that's not healthy." Maggie commented.

"I know, but I keep," Hal paused, then forced the words out, "keep having nightmares."

"About what happened?" Hal didn't respond, but his silence was enough to answer her question.

"Well, don't worry. We're not going to let anything like that happen to you again." Maggie assured him, moving her head closer to his. Hal lowered his head closer to her as well before lifting a hand to cup her face. She leaned into his palm, then glanced down and saw his wrist.

"Wait, what's this?" Maggie asked as she grabbed his arm, then sat up so she could get a clear look at the scar. Hal also sat up, now panicking again and tried to pull his arm away, but her grip was too strong. He then reached for her hand to pull her grip off his, but that revealed the scar on his other hand.

"Oh my G*d Hal. How did you get these? Did Karen do this?" Maggie demanded as she grabbed his other hand and stared at the scars.

"No, she didn't. I did." Hal quietly admitted, staring down at his lap.

"What?" The word was barely above a whisper, but he could still hear her, could still hear the absolute shock in her voice.

"After I, tried to escape the second time, when I killed," Hal paused, then skipped over that small part and continued, "I was in the infirmary for, I don't know how long before I was brought back to my cell. I still had a piece of glass in my pocket from when I broke the window."

"Once I was alone in that room again, I," Feeling his eyes becoming wet, he stopped again, then looked up at Maggie and saw her one eyes filling with tears. He took a breath and said, "Karen already controlled me once. I couldn't let her do that again, not after I already lost control and killed that kid."

Maggie loosened her hold on his arms, and as she raised a hand up to her mouth, Hal again looked down his lap and continued, "I don't know how, but I woke up in the infirmary again. I don't know how long I was there that time either, but it was then the place was attacked and I escaped for good."

"Hal, I," She started, trying to think of what to say, but what did someone say when the person they loved revealed that they had tried to kill themselves?

"Don't tell anyone." Hal told her, snapping his head back up to meet her gaze.

"What?"

"Don't tell anyone about anything of what I just told you. Not my Dad, not Anne, not Weaver, no one." Hal repeated. Maggie opened her mouth to protest, thinking that his Dad should know, that he needed to know just how badly everything that happened in the ghetto had affected Hal, but before she could, Hal cut her off.

"Please Maggie, after what just happened tonight, I can't. I just can't go through it all again. Please." Hal begged, desperation filling his voice and his eyes.

"Okay." Maggie agreed. While she did think that Tom should know, Hal was in no way ready to tell him, not after he had been forced to tell him everything else that happened while he was in the ghetto.

"Thank you." Hal responded. Maggie nodded, then pulled him into her arms and gave him a tight hug. Hal tensed a little, like he wasn't expecting it, but then he melted into her embrace and for the first time since he escaped the ghetto, he cried.

**AN** – I have never, ever had a panic attack. I have no idea what it's like, I'm going off my overactive imagination, my experience passing out, and the information I found online. I'm very sorry if I wrote it wrong. I hope you all like this chapter though and I will see you all next time!


	23. A Decision Reached

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! Sorry. I'm glad you are liking the story! Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! That's okay! Yeah, I put Hal through a lot with this story. You'll find out what Tom thinks and feels later. Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – And here is chapter 23.

**Enjoy!**

Hal didn't realize that he had fallen asleep until he noticed that his room was a lot brighter than it was before. The sun was now shining through the windows, letting him see his surroundings clearly. He was surprised by it. It had felt like he had only blinked. He couldn't remember the last time he slept without nightmares, without dreams of any kind. It was nice. He actually felt well rested.

Soon though, Hal's light brown eyes found Maggie's chocolate ones. She was already awake, and if the slight, dark circles under her eyes were any indication, she had been awake for a while. He wasn't sure if she would actually stay the night, or leave once he fell asleep, but it looked like she hadn't moved at all.

"Hey." Hal whispered, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere they were in.

"Hey, how'd you sleep?" Maggie asked, her voice just as quiet as his.

"Better than I usually do." Hal replied before adding, "Thanks for staying."

"Of course." Maggie immediately said. After everything that happened last night, there was no way she could let him be alone. He needed someone in his corner and if his family wasn't going to be there, then she would.

And when she came to find him packing, that he was getting ready to run, she knew it was more than just giving him the support, comfort and assurance he so clearly needed after revealing what all happened during those months he was gone. It was also to keep him from taking off out of fear of how everyone, mostly his Dad and siblings would react to what he had been through and done.

Once Maggie saw the scars on his body, then the ones on his wrists and discovered what Hal had tried to do while being held captive by Karen, she realized just how terrified and guilt-ridden he was, how much pain he was in. It was a matter of life and death. If Tom and the rest of the Mason family didn't react well to what Hal told them, then odds were that he would leave. Eventually though, the guilt of what happened, his family's rejection, the fear of being caught by Karen and being forced into doing her bidding against his will would catch up to him. Maggie wasn't sure if he could live with that, and deep down, she knew that Hal knew it too, even if he would never say it.

For a while, neither Hal nor Maggie said anything. They simply laid peacefully on the bed, under the covers in silence. Both of them had missed this, though neither would admit it. Not now anyway, not with everything that happened between the two of them before, especially since they still didn't know where they stood as a couple. If it had been seven months ago, back when they were still in Charleston, Hal would've leaned forward and kissed her, but he knew that seven months had passed and they were no longer in Charleston. So, he stayed still.

"So, what are you going to do?" Maggie brought them back to reality. As much as she didn't want to end the moment they were in, someone had to. The deal had been to wait until morning before Hal decided what he wanted to do, and it was morning now.

"I don't know Maggie." Hal answered, turning his head to stare straight up at the ceiling.

He knew she had made him wait until morning because she didn't want him to rush into anything, but now he was more confused than ever. He still had no idea what his family was now thinking of him, or the rest of the 2nd Mass, but Hal wasn't sure if he should leave. After being separated from them for five months, he didn't want to leave them again. He wanted to be there to make sure they were okay. But if they didn't want anything to do with him, he wouldn't blame them, nor would he stick around. At least, not close by.

Maggie opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, there was a knock on the door. They both sat up in surprise. Hal was about to go and answer it when he realized that he was still shirtless, his scars completely exposed for anyone to see.

"Just a minute." Hal said to whoever was on the other side of the door as he threw on his shirt and gloves, unaware of the pained look in Maggie's eyes while she watched. Though she had seen the scars last night, she got a better look at them now with the sun shining through the window. They looked worse than they did last night.

Once he had his shirt and gloves on, Hal went over to the other side of the room and opened the door. Weaver was standing on the other side, looking like he felt a little uncomfortable which automatically made Hal feel uneasy.

"Your Dad wants to see you in his office." Weaver informed him. Hal looked over at Maggie, who had moved to sit on the edge of the bed, her feet on the ground. She gave him a small, encouraging nod, and he turned his eyes back to Weaver.

"Okay." Hal told the Colonel. He then headed over to the chair in the corner of the room where he had thrown his jacket the night before.

Once he slipped his arms through the sleeves, Hal turned to Maggie and said, "See you later?"

"Yup." Maggie replied, finally getting off the bed herself to get her own jacket. Hal then headed out of the room and followed Weaver out of the building.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal expected Weaver to head off to do something else, like ordering the other soldiers around or planning an attack or something, but the Colonel continued walking beside him. From the corner of his eye, the oldest Mason son saw Weaver keep shooting him worried glances before he would survey his surroundings.

"Did my Dad tell you to escort me or something?" Hal asked with a small grin. He meant it as a joke, but he dropped the smile when he saw the serious expression on the older man's face.

"Considering what's been going on during the last several days, and with what happened last night, your Dad is worried that certain people," Weaver gave him a pointed look that told Hal exactly who he was talking about before continuing, "might do something stupid."

Hal fell silent as he processed Weaver's explanation, feeling a more than a little uneasy as he thought about it. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with what Weaver said, it was what wasn't said, what the Colonel and by extension, his Dad was implying. Was he being escorted because he might need protection from someone who viewed him as a threat that need to be eliminated, or to be kept from losing control and destroying the camp if he was attacked? Either way, Hal forced himself to relax as they kept walking.

"So, how are you doing?" Weaver wondered with genuine concern and curiosity.

"I'm fine." Hal replied casually, not in the mood to get into a heavy discussion right now, not when he and Maggie had one last night and not when he knew that his Dad was probably going to start one once he got to the leader's office.

"Did you sleep better last night?" Weaver then asked, knowing about the young man's struggle to sleep, and now knowing why.

"Yeah, I did actually." Hal answered honestly.

"That's good." Weaver said. He was about to say something else, wanting to keep the conversation going when they reached the courtyard, which, as it was late in the morning, was completely packed with people.

Most of them kept to themselves, busy with whatever task they were doing. Some however looked up as they heard them coming. Those who did raise their heads to see what was going on either went right back to work or shot distrustful glares in Hal's direction. Hal however kept the poker-face expression he had mastered over the last few months and ignored the looks he was getting from the few people who made it clear they didn't trust him. He had somewhat gotten used to it as it had been happening ever since word got out about his abilities. Actually, ever since he first arrived back in Chinatown.

Weaver though, didn't take too kindly to the way those 2nd Mass members were looking at his best friend's son. He knew that there were some people, most in Pope's circle, who believed that since Hal had been experimented on by Karen, he was a threat to them all, a threat that should be 'dealt with' instead of tolerated. The fact that Karen had made him a mole back in Charleston didn't help at all. Even though none of what happened was Hal's fault, that he had no say in what the aliens, what Karen did to him, those people couldn't care less. They were filled with anger and needed someone to direct it to. Apparently, the aliens weren't enough for them anymore.

Placing a hand on Hal's shoulder, Weaver gently ushered the young man towards the building that held the room Tom was using as a main office, putting himself between Hal and the crowd like a barrier. The Colonel then shot those who were still glaring at them a glare of his own, one that made it quite clear there would be h*ll to pay if they dared to make a move on Tom Mason's son. Once he was sure they got the message, he turned his head to look straight ahead as the two continued on their way.

"You didn't have to do that you know." Hal told him, completely aware of how Weaver just somewhat defended him without saying a word.

"Of course I did. This war has made almost everyone far too small-minded, which isn't fair at all to those who are now the victims of it." Weaver responded. He was getting so sick of the way those members of the group were acting, that anyone who had absolutely anything to do with anything even remotely alien was on the Overlords side and were evil and wanted them dead. While the Colonel understood what was going on in their minds, he didn't get how they refused to even try to see how it was a lot more complicated than that.

"Thank you." Hal said quietly. Since Weaver was one of the few who had been present when Hal revealed what Karen did to him and what he did, he was nervous about how the older soldier would react and treat him. The fact that Weaver actually defended him despite knowing what he did meant a lot to Hal.

"No problem." Weaver replied, giving the young man a smile. Hal returned the smile, but it fell from his face when realized that they were now inside the building outside of Tom's office and stopped in his tracks.

"It'll be okay." Weaver tried to assure Hal. The young man nodded, but still looked nervous. Knowing there wasn't really anything else he could do to take away Hal's worry, Weaver opened the door and waited for Hal to enter the room before he followed him inside and shut the door behind him.

Tom was sitting in front of the table that was in the room, maps strewn all over the metal surface. The minute the resistance leader saw the two come in, he stood up and started making his way towards them, a worried expression on his face. The look was directed at Hal who, once he saw the look and his Dad coming closer, instinctively took a step backward. Tom immediately stopped, looking even more worried and a little hurt by his son's reaction, though he couldn't blame him considering how he acted last night.

"Hey." Tom said to his oldest, not sure what else to say right now, especially with Weaver still in the room.

"Hey." Hal said back, trying not to show just how nervous he actually was. The three of them stood in awkward silence for a moment before Weaver decided to make his exit.

"I think I'm going to get back to work, let you two talk." Weaver broke the silence. Without giving Tom or Hal a chance to respond, he left the room, letting the door fall shut behind him. Again, silence flooded the room.

"So, how are you doing?" Tom asked once the silence between the two started to become unbearable, watching his son with concern.

"I'm fine." Hal replied a little coldly. His Dad looked slightly taken back, which Hal immediately felt guilty for, but there were so many emotions running through him and he didn't want his Dad to see them.

Anger at Karen for everything she did to him, anger at his father for forcing him to relive it all in front of his brothers, Maggie, Weaver, and Anne. Then there was guilt that had been a part of him ever since that night. The worst though was the fear. Fear of what his family would think about him once they knew what he had done, how they'd react. Would they see him as a murderer, a monster? He wouldn't blame them if they did. After all, he felt the same about himself.

"Hal, sit down." The leader gently ordered, gesturing to a chair near the one he was already moving to sit down in.

"I'm fine standing." Hal denied his father's request. Again, his Dad looked a little stunned by his reaction, but didn't push it. Hal was grateful for that. It wasn't anything personal after all. Well, maybe a little. The situation between the father and son were in, felt entirely out of the son's control which was due to the actions of the parent last night, and right now, Hal needed to feel some sort of control. Plus, if anything were to happen and he needed to get out of the room, he would move a lot faster if he was already standing.

Tom, for his part, put his elbows on his knees once he had sat down, then proceeded to put his face in his hands, sighing loudly. He wasn't sure what to expect from Hal after what happened last night. He was just grateful that his son didn't take off after he left the office, and that he had actually came to see him. If Hal didn't, Tom would've easily understood. And he was somewhat understanding, or at least, he was trying to understand why Hal was now acting the way he was now. But the former President was at a lost on how to comfort his oldest as well as approach the subject he needed to talk about with Hal right now.

After spending the night sitting in the office chair, knowing that if he went to bed, sleep would not come to him, Tom thought long and hard about what to do next. They now knew what Hal had been through and what all happened to him while Karen kept him prisoner, they now had to move forward. They had to first make sure that he was indeed okay, that he wasn't still suffering from any injuries had received from Karen and the aliens. Then, they would have to check to see what effects of what Karen did to him when she was experimenting on him could occur. If it was going to endanger Hal or the 2nd Mass, they needed to know. But before all of that, Tom needed to apologize to his son.

"Hal," Tom broke off, trying to figure out exactly how to word this without pushing the young man further away than he already had.

"I'm sorry, about how I acted and for what I said last night. I've just been so worried about you and I got frustrated because you weren't saying anything. But I went way too far, and I'm sorry." Tom apologized sincerely, looking up at his son, hoping that Hal could see how sorry he truly was.

When Hal didn't say anything, though Tom could tell that his oldest was struggling with keeping up his poker-face on, the father added, "And I am so sorry you went through all that. If there was some way I could turn back time and save you from going through all that, I would. Believe me, I would."

"I know." Hal responded, looking down at the ground. Seeing the emotions in his Dad's eyes, hearing them in his voice was pulling Hal's carefully hidden ones up to the surface and that was the last thing the young man wanted.

"It's okay Dad. I know that you were just trying to get answers, that you needed to know that the 2nd Mass is safe and all. While I didn't want to talk about it, I get that you needed to know what happened. It's okay." Hal told his father, looking up at him again. Though he was still a little upset and angry at how his Dad came at him last night, he did understand why. Hal hadn't been very honest or forthcoming before about what Karen and the Overlords and skitters had done to him, but considering everything that had been happening and the way he had been acting, they needed to know. Needed to know if he was a threat to the group in any way.

"I still shouldn't have cornered you like that. I'm your father Hal, I should've been more patient." Tom argued. Before Hal finally told him what he went through those months he was separated from them, Tom couldn't imagine what happened that was so terrible that Hal felt like he couldn't tell them. Afterwards though, and still now, Tom felt like the world's worst parent, especially as Hal tried to excuse his behaviour.

"You're also the leader of what? 200? 300 people? They've got to come first." Hal pointed out. Tom wanted to deny it, but couldn't because Hal did indeed have a point, whether they liked it or not.

"None of this is fair, at all." Tom said dejectedly, looking down at the table.

"It's the world we live in, not the world we want." Hal repeated his statement from over two years ago.

"No kidding." Tom commented, still looking down. Seeing how downcast his father was made Hal feel sorry for the former history professor.

Ever since his Dad became a leader of the 2nd Mass back when they left Boston, he had been struggling to balance being a leader to the group and being a parent to his sons. Hal and Ben both understood and tried not to hold it against him. Matt had a harder time with it though. That became clear while they were in Charleston, but Hal never really considered how his Dad must've felt, stuck between the two, full-time jobs with, admittedly, the job of being a parent being the one that was getting the least of his attention. Looking at his father now, Hal could see how torn the man was.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, both seemingly lost in their own thoughts. After a minute, Hal moved closer to his Dad and sat down in the chair beside him. When he first came into the office, he had been terrified of what his Dad was going to say and do. Now that his Dad knew of how he killed a harnessed and lost control of his newfound abilities, he was scared that his Dad would tell him to leave the 2nd Mass, that he was too much of a wild card, a risk they couldn't take, but none of that happened. Instead, his Dad apologized and didn't seem at all upset or threatened by him, which was more than what Hal expected. He wanted to just leave the subject here, but he knew they weren't done discussing it yet.

"So, what happens now?" Hal asked when Tom didn't say anything. Though the parent still kept his face down, his oldest child could see the worried and cautious expression come upon his face.

"Well, I talked to Anne and Weaver. We all think that it would that it would be good if you let Anne run the tests she wants to run. Since you yourself don't fully understand what Karen did to you and neither do we, we need to know if what she did is going to have any negative side effects. Also, I'm not going to ask you to use your abilities anymore." Tom informed his son, slowly turning his head to look up at the young man.

"You're not?" Hal questioned, shocked by what his Dad just said.

"No. I never should've pressured you to in the first place, especially when you told me you didn't want to. They're your powers which means it's your choice." Tom explained, staring straight into Hal's eyes.

"And if using your abilities is going to put a target on your back, then I definitely don't want you to." Tom added. Slowly, a grateful smile replaced the shock.

"Thanks." Hal said quietly and sincerely. His Dad nodded, then placed his hand on Hal's shoulder. Slowly though, the smile left the young man's face as he remembered what his Dad said at the beginning, about Anne still wanting to run those tests he had been avoiding since he reunited with his family.

"What if I still don't want to get those tests done?" Hal asked carefully, studying his father closely to see how the former professor would react.

Tom thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to respond. He still wasn't exactly sure why his son seemed so against letting Anne find out what Karen did to him, especially now that he had told the what had happened to him, but Tom knew that there was indeed a reason. And given how things have been lately, it wouldn't be one that Tom could fully predict.

"I'm not going to force you, but I really think you should. Hal, we just want to make sure you're okay." Tom replied.

Hal continued staring at his father for a moment before he looked down at the table, shifting his body so he could place his elbows on the flat surface. He understood why his Dad and Anne wanted to run whatever tests they wanted to run, he always had, but he was still scared of how they would react to whatever they would find. Now that he had told them though, the only thing they had yet to really find, was his scars. While Hal wasn't thrilled about that idea, he knew that if he refused, it would make absolutely everyone in Chinatown even more suspicious of him than they already were.

"When?" Hal finally decided, thinking that it would be better if he just went along with what his Dad wanted right now, especially since the leader was no longer going to pressure him to use his 'powers'.

Quickly realizing what Hal was talking about, Tom answered, "Sooner would be better."

"Okay."


	24. The Damage Done

**Disclaimer** – Enjoy!

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! I don't know really what to tell you. I just write and write and write. An idea just comes and then I write it. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Less than ten minutes later, Hal found himself approaching the infirmary. After agreeing to his Dad's request to let Anne run whatever tests she wanted to run, he started making his way towards the building, though, not before his Dad again asked if he was okay and assuring him he was and getting pulled into a hug.

Taking a deep breath, Hal entered the building. The main room, which was filled with gurneys and cots, only had three people, all who were lying down as they were still healing from their latest encounter with the Espheni. There was no sign of Anne, Lourdes, or Dr. Kadar though. Hal was torn between going further into the building to find them, or just leaving and coming back later, when the door to one of the side rooms opened and Anne came out, a shocked expression covering her face when she saw him.

"Hal." Anne said, giving him a small smile as the shock fell from her face. She knew Tom was going to try and talk to him about what happened the night before, and try to see if he could convince him to let her check him over for previous injuries and to see if they could find out what exactly Karen did to him. Considering how against it the young man had been, the doctor expected that it would take longer for Tom to get his son to agree, if he did at all.

"So, where do you want me?" Hal asked when Anne didn't say anything besides his name, hoping that his father's girlfriend didn't want to check him over in this room as it was so public.

"Um, in here." Anne answered, heading over to a door on the other side of the main room. Hal followed the doctor, hesitating slightly.

Once they entered the room, Anne shut the door while Hal looked around. There was a metal examination table in the middle of the room, an empty IV pole in the far corner, and a counter along the wall to his left filled with syringes and other medical tools. Seeing those caused a sudden feeling of panic to rise up inside of Hal, but he quickly took another deep breath in an effort to keep himself calm. When he turned back to face Anne, he found that she was already watching him, eyes filled with concern.

"Are you alright?" Anne wondered once she saw that she had Hal's complete attention.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal responded, sounding a bit defensive and annoyed. She wasn't at all surprised though, it was what everyone had been asking since he came to Chinatown. Anne would be getting annoyed too if it was her.

Seeing the slightly fearful and guarded look in his eyes, the defensive way he was standing, the clenching of his jaw, all signs that he was trying to keep control of any emotions he was feeling, Anne felt a piece of her heart break. Without thinking twice, the doctor crossed the space between them and pulled Hal into her arms, holding him tightly. Even though she wasn't as close to Tom's oldest son as she was the other two, she had started to feel a motherly love for him. It was because of that she sensed that he needed a hug more than anything else at that moment.

Hal was so stunned by Anne's embrace that he froze, not moving a muscle. When she didn't let go however, Hal relaxed and wrapped his arms around the doctor in return. While Hal was never close to Anne like his brothers were even though she was dating his Dad and was the mother of his sister, they had gotten closer when they were in Charleston as she was his doctor. This was the first time they actually hugged though. It reminded him of his Mom's hugs. He didn't realize how much he missed them.

Suddenly feeling tears prickle the corners of his eyes, Hal pulled away from Anne and looked down casually so she wouldn't see that his eyes were wet. When he felt that he had regained his composure, Hal looked back up at the doctor, giving her a reassuring smile when he saw the concern still in her eyes.

"So, what all do you need to do?" Hal wondered, wanting to get this all over with.

"Well, first I just want to check your vitals, then run a few blood tests. We'll go from there." Anne replied, gesturing to the table, silently telling him to go sit on it, which he did as she wet over to get her stethoscope and other medical tools.

Once she had what she needed for the moment, Anne started making her way over to Hal, but stopped in her tracks when she heard a small knock on the door. Before Anne or Hal could respond, the door opened and Matt came inside.

"Hey Matt. What are you doing here?" Hal asked, keeping his voice calm since his little brother looked so nervous that it was almost just plain fear.

"I, um, Dad said you were here and I just, wanted to make sure you're okay." Matt answered, coming further into the room, though still having to hold the door open. Hal gave him a smile when he heard that.

"I'm fine Matt, Anne's just running some tests is all." Hal informed the youngest Mason son. Matt smiled a little in response, but then looked a little nervous once again.

"Can I stay? Keep you company?" Matt wondered, his tone both hopeful and unsure as the door closed behind him. Anne had no problem with it, but looked over at Hal as she knew that he might.

Hal did not want Matt in the room, at all. Though he didn't really want to be alone, there was no way he wanted to risk letting his baby brother see the scars the littered his body. He knew that letting Anne fully examine him would mean that she would find the scars, but that didn't mean he wanted anyone to see them. He didn't even want to tell them what the Overlords and Karen did to him, much less see the evidence of it. Now he had told them, they wouldn't be as taken back at the sight of them, but he knew once they did see them, they'd look at him with pity. He could take it from Anne, and probably his Dad, but most definitely not from his baby brother.

Before Hal could come up with a reason to get Matt out of the room without sounding rude or making his youngest brother worried about him, there was another knock on the door. Just like Matt, the person didn't wait from an answer before the door opened, revealing Ben on the other side.

"Mind if I join?" Ben asked, eyes glancing back from Anne to Hal. The oldest Mason son could see that the middle brother did look a little nervous, but not as much as Matt did.

Suddenly feeling a little trapped as he knew it would be harder to get Ben to leave than it would Matt, Hal relented, "Sure, why not."

The beaming smile that Matt gave him made Hal feel better, especially when the adolescent came over and sat on the table beside him. Hal wrapped his left arm around Matt's shoulders. When he looked up at Ben, he saw a small, appreciative grin on the teenager's face. but Ben didn't come over to him like Matt did. Instead, he closed the door and moved a few feet away from it before leaning his back against the wall slightly.

There was something in his eyes though that made Hal feel a little uncomfortable, like his brother was studying him. He didn't say anything about it though. If there was something up with Ben, then Hal would wait until the blonde decided he wanted to talk about it or not.

For the next hour, Hal forced himself to be the perfect patient. He let Anne take several blood samples from his arm, let her check his vitals, though he flinched a little at the coldness of the stethoscope. She then checked his blood pressure and reflects. While the doctor was doing that, Hal's Dad came into the room, though unlike his brothers, he waited for a response before he entered.

"How's it going?" Tom questioned, looking at both Hal and Anne as he came to stand by his oldest son's side near Anne since Matt was still sitting beside Hal on the table.

"It's going alright. He's actually being a good patient." Anne answered as she took the pressure cuff off Hal's arm.

"Good." Tom replied, giving his oldest a small smile as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

Anne placed the pressure cuff on the counter next to the other medical supplies before writing down Hal's blood pressure on the clipboard she had been using to keep track and make notes of everything she had found so far. Reading everything she had written down, Anne realized she hadn't found anything out of the ordinary yet, though she hadn't run the blood tests yet. Everything else was perfectly normal so far.

"Hal, what exactly did Karen do that gave you your abilities? Did she inject something, do some sort of surgery or something like that?" Anne inquired, looking back over at her patient.

The young man suddenly looked very uncomfortable and lowered his eyes, but answered, "She injected something into my spine."

Hearing that, everyone in the room now looked uncomfortable. Tom and Matt had never had something stabbed into their spines, but they knew it had to hurt. Anne hadn't either, but she had to do spinal taps on her patients before the invasion and knew how much it could hurt, especially if not done properly. Ben though, actually grimaced.

The teenager remembered how much it hurt when the Espheni put the harness on his back and the spikes stabbed through his back and into his spine. It was not a pleasant experience. The only good thing was that whatever drug the harness pushed into his system immediately numbed it. Ben doubted that Hal got that perk.

"Well, in that case we should probably do a spinal tap to see if we can figure out what it was." Anne responded a little hesitantly, knowing from the expression on Hal's face that he might object to that. While he had been willing to let her check him over so far, she couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before he stopped. He had put up such resistance to letting her check him over the last few weeks.

"Is it necessary?" Hal wondered, sounding about as thrilled as the doctor expected.

"I think it really would help us figure out what Karen did." Anne replied carefully. She knew Hal was having a hard time coping with everything he had been through, that much was obvious even before he told them what Karen and the Overlords had done to him. The last thing Anne wanted to do was make him feel trapped or trigger anything. If he didn't want to let her continue her tests, she wasn't going to force him.

Hal though, wasn't looking at her. He was looking at his Dad, Ben, and Matt before looking down at the ground. He knew that if he let Anne continue, he would at the very least have to pull his shirt up so that she could put the needle into his spine, which would expose the scars on his back. But if he didn't agree to the test, his Dad and brothers would want to know why, and if the last few weeks proved anything, it was that they wouldn't stop until they got an answer.

Turning his head to face his Dad, Hal lightly tapped him to get his attention before whispering, "Get Matt and Ben out of the room."

Tom couldn't stop the concerned and slightly confused expression from coming upon his face when he heard his son's request. Realizing that Hal wasn't saying 'no' to the test Anne wanted to do which is what the father expected, Tom decided to go with what the young man wanted. The last thing anyone wanted was a repeat of last night, and if getting his younger sons out of the room would make Hal more comfortable, then so be it.

"Ben, Matt, they should be getting lunch out by now. Why don't you two go get something to eat? And maybe see if Weaver needs any help. I think he was planning to send out a scouting party or something." Tom suggested, hoping Ben and Matt would take it instead of insisting on staying. If they did, then the father would have to come up with another excuse to get them out of the room. And that would definitely make them even more worried about Hal than they already were.

Matt looked like he was about to protest, clearly wanting to stay with his oldest brother, but Ben spoke before he had a chance to.

"That sounds like a good idea. I am actually a little hungry. Come on Matt." The curly haired boy still looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew when he was beat. So he turned to face Hal, giving him a quick hug before hopping off the table and following Ben out of the room.

Once they were gone, Anne turned her full attention back to Hal, who was staring absently at the door, and she asked, "You ready to keep going?"

"Yeah, sure." Hal mumbled, looking down at the floor. Despite the extremely unenthusiastic tone in the young man's voice making it clear he didn't want to go through any more tests, at all, Anne turned to face to the counter and drawers which held the medical supplies she needed.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to take off your shirt." Anne told Hal, glancing at him and Tom for a second before she started to get what she needed.

Hal visibly tensed even though he expected Anne to tell him that. A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly, but when he looked up, Hal saw that it was just his Dad, who was now looking down at him with worry. The young man gave his father a very small, but reassuring smile before moving his arms to take off his shirt, ignoring the way his Dad was watching him.

Tom couldn't hold back the shocked gasp when he saw the scars on his son's back as Hal pulled his shirt over his head. Once the t-shirt was fully off, the parent craned his head to the side to get a look at Hal's front and saw even more scars on Hal's chest, ribs, and stomach. He now completely understood why his oldest wanted Ben and Matt out of the room and Tom was glad he went along with that request.

Hearing the shocked gasp, Anne turned around to see what was wrong, but Tom was blocking her view. Feeling a little concerned, the doctor walked closer to the table and around her boyfriend, then immediately froze, quickly seeing what had shocked the former history professor. The five scars on Hal's torso easily stood out, white and red against his skin, and since she had been his doctor before they were separated, she knew for a fact he did not have those before. The scars were evidence of what he had been through those months he was held captive by Karen.

"Can we please just get this over with?" Hal's voice broke Anne and Tom out of their horror-filled shock. Neither of them had even realized that they had just been staring at the young man in complete silence for at least a few minutes.

"Yeah, yeah, of course we can. Just lie down on your side and we can get started." Anne instructed as she again headed back to the counter to finish getting the supplies ready, doing it more so to regain her composure as she pretty much had everything together already.

Looking over her should to see that Hal had done what she ordered, she grabbed an anesthetic wipe and approached the table saying, "Okay, I'm just going to make sure your back is clean before we start. Warning you, this is going to be a little cold."

Hal didn't say anything, though he nodded, telling her that he heard her and didn't have any objections. Anne then went around the table so she was facing the young man's back, but froze once again when she saw the other scars on his back.

Looking up at Tom, she saw the pain-filled expression mixed with horror on his face which told her that he had already seen those scars as well. Anne didn't say anything about it though, remembering that Hal was still waiting for her to start and was probably more uncomfortable right now than she and Tom were.

"Alright." Anne muttered, mostly just so Hal knew she was behind him. She quickly started wiping the spot on his back where she was going to put the needle, completely focused on her task. Hal flinched a little, but said it was just because it was indeed cold like she had warned earlier when Tom asked.

When she was done, Anne went back over to the other side of the room and slipped on a pair of sterile gloves and grabbed a syringe. Turning back to face Hal and Tom, she said, "Now, I'm just going to numb up the spot a bit so the spinal tap won't hurt as much."

Both of the Masons' nodded, but didn't say anything as she came to stand behind Hal and pushed the needle into his back. Her patient didn't flinch at all, though he did instinctively tense up. Tom kept his hand on his son's shoulder to comfort him, keeping quiet because he couldn't think of anything to say that would make the situation any better. Soon though, Anne pulled the needle out and walked away once again.

"Okay, that's going to take a few minutes to take effect, then we'll get started." The doctor updated them. The three waited in silence for about five minutes before Anne came back over with her supplies.

"Alright, we should be good to start." Anne stated as she came to stand behind Hal, then continued, "So, how this works, is I put a small needle into your back, then I put a larger one in to draw the spinal fluid. Once I have enough, I'll pull them out."

"But since you numbed that spot, he won't feel it, right?" Tom asked, looking over at Anne with a worried expression. Hal also turned his gaze over to the doctor, waiting for an answer.

"Unfortunately, the freezing isn't that strong. You are definitely going to feel it." Anne replied, looking down at Hal with a regretful expression when she said the last part. Hal didn't look that surprised though. Tom on the other hand, looked extremely upset and concerned, which didn't surprise Anne one bit. Neither of them said anything though as she got ready.

Anne tried her hardest to be gentle as she felt for a good spot to put the needles in. It didn't stop her patient to again instinctively tense up though. Seeing his son do that, Tom immediately reached over and grabbed Hal's hand. Knowing they were as ready as they were going to be, Anne warned, "Okay, here we go."

The doctor wasn't kidding at all when she said he would feel the needles. A sharp pain spread along Hal's spine and through his body when Anne stabbed the needles into his backbone. It was no where near as bad as when the aliens did it, but that didn't mean it felt good by any means. In response to the pain, he gripped his Dad's hand tightly, though he didn't make any noise. Having gotten used to pain much worse had definitely risen his level of pain tolerance.

Lifting his gaze up to his Dad's face, he saw the extremely worried expression that the older man was wearing and Hal gave him a small smile, trying to assure him that he was okay. Anne, being behind him, was unable to see his face and didn't get the message, so she quickly gave him an apology.

"It's okay." Hal responded in a tightly controlled voice, doing his best to make sure his Dad and Anne were unaware of how much it still did hurt, as well as keeping them unaware that this whole situation was giving him vivid flashbacks of the Espheni pumping who knows what into his spine. Hal closed his eyes in response to them, no longer wanting to see the worried look he was getting from his Dad. He didn't open them until he felt Anne remove the needles and placed a band aid over the spot.

When he finally did open his eyes again, Hal saw that his Dad was still watching him closely. Again, he gave the parent a small smile, then loosened his tight grip on the older man's hand as the pain in his back started to go down. This time, his Dad smiled back, and put his free hand on Hal's shoulder. He waited another minute or two after hearing Anne's light footsteps walking away before he finally pushed himself up into a sitting position, letting his Dad help him even though it wasn't needed.

"You okay?" Tom asked with a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal answered reassuringly.

"You sure?" Anne questioned from her spot by the counter, then added, "I've seen grown men scream during spinal taps. You don't have to be Mr. Tough Guy."

"Trust me Anne, I'm fine. When Karen and the Overlords stabbed needles into my spine, they didn't freeze the spot or anything. I'm good." Hal revealed.

Tom and Anne both froze when they heard that, completely shocked by what they had just been told. While the two were horrified by what Hal had been through, he gave barely any details of what the aliens and Karen did to him. With every detail he now revealed, the horror grew and grew, especially in Tom. He couldn't believe everything his son had happen to him, and the fact his eldest survived proved that he was far stronger then Tom ever imagined, as well as stronger than he should've ever needed to be.

"So, are we done here?" Hal wondered, purposely ignoring the expressions on the adults' faces.

"Almost," Anne replied, replacing the shock with her calm and professional manner then added, "I'd like to run some x-rays, just to make sure your injuries are all healed. I've noticed you've been favouring your left shoulder a bit."

Hal instinctively looked down at his shoulder, seeing the scar left by the fish-head's knife. He couldn't deny how after a long day or too much physical activity, his shoulder would ache, a lot, and he knew some people had noticed. While Hal was hoping that after having needles stuck into his spine, he would be free to go, but maybe having the doctor check his shoulder would be good.

"Okay." Hal agreed, again surprising both Anne and Tom. But neither questioned it as they were both just grateful that Hal was letting them try to help. Without another word, Anne led them to the x-ray room to run the last tests she wanted.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

About an hour and a half later, Hal finally exited the infirmary, putting on his jacket as he did so. After Anne finally finished running the x-rays, she was all done with the tests, for now at least. So Hal got up to leave, with instructions to come back tomorrow as she would have all the results by then. The young man agreed, then quickly left, feeling extremely crowded and as though his privacy had been invaded.

"Hal?" The eldest Mason son turned his head to the right to see who called his name. When he saw it was Maggie and that she was walking over to him, he smiled.

"Hey Maggie. What's up?" Hal asked as she reached his side.

"Just looking for you. Haven't seen you since you left this morning. Is everything okay?" Maggie questioned, her brown eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I was just in the infirmary with Anne and my Dad so could run the tests she had been wanting to. There were a lot." Hal answered with an assuring tone. He didn't want Maggie to worry about him anymore than she clearly already was. It didn't work though. The minute the word 'infirmary' came out of his mouth, Maggie's eyes widened.

"Is everything okay? Did she find anything?" Maggie questioned, watching him closely for any sign of either something wrong of a sign that he was lying to make her feel better.

"Everything's fine. I just have to go back tomorrow because she will have the test results by then." Hal replied, still smiling. Though she still looked concerned, she visibly relaxed a little, somewhat put at ease by Hal's explanation.

"Have you eaten? Lunch is over but we could probably scrounge up something for you?" Maggie said after a minute of silence, still watching the young man closely. Hal though, shook his head.

"No thanks, I'm fine." Hal quickly responded. While he hadn't eaten all day, nor did he eat much yesterday, the thought of food made him feel sick to his stomach. All he really wanted was to go to his room and get some more sleep.

"You sure? You didn't eat much yesterday." Maggie recalled, growing concerned once again.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I think I'm just gonna go lie down for a bit. I'll see you later." Hal didn't give her a chance to respond before he turned and walked away in the direction of the building where his room was.

Maggie watched him leave until he was completely out of sight. Every instinct in her body told her to run after him, but she forced herself to remain in her spot. He had been through a lot yesterday, and probably been through a lot today as well. It was completely understandable that he wanted to be alone right now, but there was a part of her that feared he was going to run like he planned to last night.

As far as she could tell, everything seemed to have gone okay between Hal and his Dad, though she didn't know for sure, nor did she fully know what happened in the infirmary. She did know that despite smile however, Hal did look a little shaken.

Taking a deep breath, Maggie turned around and headed back to the armoury for more ammo, which is where she was going before she had bumped into Hal. Though she was still worried, she was fairly certain Hal wouldn't run, not in the middle of the day at least. Besides, her shift on guard duty was almost over. She'd check on him then.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

At the end of the day, Tom walked into one of the private rooms in the infirmary, the one that Anne and Kadar were using as an office. Though Kadar wasn't in the room, Anne was, and that was exactly who the former history teacher was looking for.

"Hey, how's it going?" Anne greeted when she looked up from the paperwork in her hands.

"It's going." Tom replied, coming over to her.

"How's Hal?" Anne then asked once Tom reached her side.

"Okay I think. According to Maggie, he wasn't feeling good so he went back to bed. I'm going to check on him myself soon, I just wanted to let him be for a while." Tom answered, pausing for a moment before he continued, "I don't think it's the flu or a cold that's making him sick."

"Probably not." The doctor agreed with the assumption. Seeing the dejected look on his face though, she put her hand on his shoulder and said, "I know you're probably tired of hearing this, but give him time."

"I know." Tom responded, nodding his head. Deciding it was time to change the subject and remembering why he had come looking for Anne in the first place, he looked over at her and asked, "Have you got the test results yet?"

"Most of them. Kadar is still working on the blood tests and spinal tap, but the others I have here." Anne replied, putting the papers in her hand down on the table in the middle of the room, then grabbed a different, small, stack of papers before turning to face Tom.

"Hal's blood pressure is a little higher then it should be, but that usually happens when a person is under stress and considering the circumstances, it's not that surprising. He's also a little under weight considering his size and age, but again, due to the circumstances, it's to be expected. He's actually doing well compared to how he was when he first arrived." Anne informed him, looking at the results and notes on the first two papers.

Tom nodded, silently letting his girlfriend know that he heard her. He was glad that his son was doing well despite, everything, remembering how terrible and thin he looked when he rejoined his family in the group. But Tom knew that there was something that Anne had found that she hadn't told him yet due to the worried look on her face.

"His x-rays on the other hand, are a little more concerning." Anne told him.

"What is it?" Tom questioned, feeling more worried by Anne's reluctance to tell him what she found.

"All of his ribs appear to have been broken at some point, same with two of his fingers on his left hand and three on his right. He left shoulder also appears to have been dislocated at some point, probably around the same time he had been stabbed there. I would say that particular injury happened about two months before he came back to the 2nd Mass, but it hasn't properly healed. That's why he's still struggling with that shoulder." Anne replied, a bit reluctantly as she knew that this bit of information was going to hurt the 2nd Mass leader.

Tom closed his eyes as he tried to process everything that Anne told him. It was one thing to hear from your son what he all went through, how he was tortured. It was another to see the scars that had come from the injuries that he had suffered, and it was another to hear about the other injuries that had already healed and weren't visible. Hearing and/or seeing any one of these things would be painful, but hearing and seeing it all at once was heartbreaking to the father. He couldn't believe how much his son had suffered.

"Is there anything that can be done for his shoulder?" Tom inquired, hoping they could still help Hal heal from the injury he was still suffering from.

"We can get him to do some physiotherapy and I'll get a sling for him to wear for a few weeks. It should help, but since its already been a few months, it's probably going to affect him for quite a while, maybe even his whole life." Anne responded. Before Tom could say anything to that, she added, "It's his lungs I'm more worried about."

"What? Why?" Tom asked, his worry level rising.

"From what I can tell, it looks as though they had been damaged in some way and have healed. Normally, I would check again with an MRI, or ultrasound to get a better look, as well as to check on his other organs to see if they had been damaged too, but we don't have any of those." Anne informed him.

"But, Hal's okay now though, right?" Tom questioned as the doctor did say that his son's lungs had healed.

"Besides his shoulder, yes, I would say so. I am still waiting for the results of the blood tests and the spinal tap though." Anne replied. Tom nodded, but didn't say anything as he struggled to process all the information his girlfriend had just given him.

"Tom, you okay?" The doctor asked the former history teacher, getting a little worried at his lack of response and the worried and hurt expression on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to check on Hal." Tom said, not meeting her eyes at all. Without another word, the father strode out of the room, oblivious to the concerned and sympathy-filled look on Anne's face. She didn't try to stop him though, completely understanding his need to see his son.

Once he was gone, Anne put the papers in her hand back down on the table and left to go find Kadar to see if he had found anything with the blood tests and spinal tap.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom stood outside Hal's bedroom door for a good five minutes before he knocked quietly, not wanting to wake his son if he was sleeping. When there was no response, Tom slowly opened the door and slipped inside. He quickly spotted his oldest son on the bed, lying on his side with his back to him.

For a moment, Tom wondered what he should do. He had been hoping that Hal would be awake so he could make sure the young man was okay, though he knew the odds were that his son would just give him a smile, say that he was okay and change the subject. And while Tom still wanted to ask anyways, he also knew that Hal hadn't been sleeping well, at all, and he should probably just leave him be.

Seeing that Hal's blanket was down over his legs, Tom walked over to the bed, reached down and gently pulled the covers up, not wanting to have a repeat of what happened a few weeks ago when they were on that mission to destroy that alien factory. The one when Hal used his powers for the first time in front of them. Luckily though, his son did not stir at all.

Finally deciding to just let the young man be, Tom whispered, "I love you," then turned to walk towards the door.

Before he could take a single step however, Tom heard the quiet voice of his son say, "Love you too."

Tom turned back around to face Hal, but his oldest hadn't moved a muscle. Now that he knew that his son was actually awake, he again wondered if he should try to talk to him, but again decided to leave him be. Hal had already been through a lot today and yesterday, he probably needed some time to simply collect himself. The father could talk to him later.

The 2nd Mass leader did though bend down to give his son's shoulder a comforting squeezing and said, "Good night."

"Night." Hal replied back, still not moving at all. Tom let out a small, somewhat sad, sigh before again moving to leave the room. A part of him wished that Hal would say something, would ask him to stay, would want to talk, but his son didn't. And that fact alone had Tom fearing that despite that Hal had finally opened up, honestly, about what happened those months he was gone, he was starting to push away the parent once again.


	25. Head vs Heart

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! Not going to lie, a part of me does feel glad writing angst lol. Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one too!

**Enjoy!**

"Is this really necessary?" Hal asked Dr. Glass the next morning as she finished putting his left arm in the sling. After waking up that morning, and eating breakfast with Maggie and Matt, he had made his way back to the infirmary where Anne was waiting for him, as were his Dad and Dr. Kadar. Once in one of the private exam rooms, Anne explained to him what was wrong with his shoulder and what she wanted to do to fix it.

"If you want your shoulder to get better, then yes, it is." Anne replied, taking a step away from her patient. Seeing the annoyed expression on Hal's face, she added, "It's just for a little while. The sling will be gone before you know it."

"Wanna bet?" Hal half-heartedly joke, looking down at the thing that was keeping his arm restrained to his chest.

"So, besides my apparent need for a sling, what else did you find?" Hal then questioned, looking up at the two doctors and his Dad.

"Well, the x-rays showed that you had a lot of injuries that have healed, which you already know." Anne said, looking at the x-rays in her hand while Hal nodded before lowering his head so he wouldn't see the pained expression on his Dad's face.

"The spinal tap and blood tests revealed something else though." Hal's head shot up when heard Kadar say that.

"And that is?" Hal prompted the doctors to continue when they stayed silent for a minute instead of immediately telling him what they found. Anne and Kadar still stayed quiet for a moment, though Anne did put the x-rays down on the counter, then came over to him and sat down on the stool near the exam table Hal was sitting on.

"Hal, we found traces of DNA, one that's not yours, it's not even human actually, but it's bonded to yours." Anne finally revealed.

For a moment, Hal was too shocked to think clearly. Even though he knew Karen and the Overlords had done something to him, he didn't think that they actually messed with his DNA. It made sense to him though. After all, no human could do what he could, so logically, he wasn't human, or at least, not completely anymore. Still, it was hard to hear that there was DNA inside of you that wasn't even human and judging from look on his father's face, it was hard for him to hear it too. Hal wondered if Anne told his Dad before he got to the infirmary. From the older man's lack of shock, he assumed she had.

"Is it Espheni DNA?" Hal then asked, realizing that the doctor never actually said what DNA it was that they found.

Anne however, had more surprises in store for him, "Actually, no, it's not. It's something neither Kadar or I have seen before. It's not even set up the way Karen changed Lexi's. Hers are the human and alien DNA entwined together. With you, it's like the DNA is piggybacking on yours, and is like it's dormant. I think that's why we didn't see it when we ran the tests when you first arrived. If we hadn't run the spinal, we probably would've missed it again. The DNA is a lot more visible in your spinal fluid than your blood."

"So, I have alien DNA in my body and we have no idea what species it belongs to or what it's doing. Good thing we ran those tests to answer those questions." Hal stated with slightly sarcastic tone. Quickly realizing that he had said his thoughts louder and more rudely than he intended, he looked up at the three adults and apologized, "Sorry."

"It's alright Hal. If anyone has the right to be annoyed and frustrated, it's you." Anne replied with a small smile, her voice full of understanding as were her eyes.

"What do we do now? Is there any way to tell what this DNA is doing to him, and where it's from?" Tom inquired, sounding just as worried and desperate for answers as Hal was.

"I'm going to show the results to Cochise next time he comes, see if he knows what it is. Other than that, we can only really monitor him." Anne told Tom, who nodded in agreement though he still looked fairly concerned about his son.

"Well, there is something else we could do. We could try running these those tests again while Hal is using his powers, we might learn more." Kadar spoke up, getting everyone's attention. Though the scientist's suggestion made sense, Hal completely tensed at the idea of using his abilities and being stuck with needles while in that state.

Seeing the way his son had froze and the fearful expression on his face, as well as remembering the promise he made only two days earlier, Tom said, "No, we're not going to do that. If Cochise doesn't know anything, we'll talk about it, but Hal will have the final say on it."

Hal gave his father a grateful smile, the parent quickly returning it. Tom then looked over at Anne, and saw her nod in agreement, but when he looked at Kadar, he could easily tell that the scientist wanted to protest. The former history teacher quickly shot Kadar a look of warning and slightly shook his head, silently telling the man to keep his mouth shut. Kadar quickly saw what Tom was doing and wisely said nothing.

"So, am I good to go then?" Hal wondered, looking over at Anne as he waited for her answer.

"For now, yeah. Sometime today, I want you to come back so Lourdes can start doing the physio I told you about." Anne responded with a short nod. Hal immediately returned the nod before he jumped off the table and strode out of the room without a word, oblivious to the concerned expression his Dad was giving him as he walked away.

Anne however, saw the look and came over to her boyfriend. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she asked, "You alright?"

"Believe it or not, I'm actually more worried about him now than I was before we ran those tests and he told us what happened to him." Tom answered, staring at the door his son just went through.

"I know. But he's tough, he'll be okay, everything will be okay." Anne did her best to assure the 2nd Mass leader. When Tom turned his head to look at her over his shoulder though, she knew she failed.

"Can you guarantee that?" Tom questioned. Seeing his girlfriend's face fall, he quickly said, "Forget I asked that. I better go find Weaver. We're starting to plan another attack on another Espheni base. We want to figure out as much as we can before Cochise gets here."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight?" Anne checked. He nodded, pressed a quick kiss on the corner of Anne's mouth, then headed out of the door.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal made his way through the small crowds of people to his Dad and Weaver's office, hoping that maybe Weaver had something he could do. While he was grateful that he wasn't on the frontlines, there was a part of him that missed it. He was feeling useless and restless and it was getting worse as time passed. And if there was one thing he hated, it was being useless.

Unfortunately, Weaver didn't have anything he could do, and since he was going to be stuck wearing a sling for a while, he wasn't really able to help much anyways. Hal really hoped he wouldn't have to wear it for long. Already he was getting annoyed with having only one free hand, though he was glad it wasn't his dominant hand in the sling. That would be worse. Still, he hated not being able to move his left arm. While the circumstances were a lot different, it reminded him a lot of when he was held captive by Karen.

"Hal! Wait up!" Hal immediately turned around when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name before his gaze found Matt running towards him.

"Hey Matt. What's up?" Hal asked with a smile once his little brother reached him. Matt also had a wide grin on his face, but when he saw that his oldest brother was wearing a sling, the smile left as a worried expression took its place.

"What's wrong with your arm?" Matt wondered, staring at the sling.

"Oh nothing. I hurt it a while ago but it didn't heal right, so Anne wants me to wear the sling for a while to fix it. It's nothing, don't worry about it." Hal assured his baby brother. Matt didn't looked very convinced, but he didn't say anything.

Wanting to erase the worried look on Matt's face, Hal asked, "Want to do something until I have to go meet up with Lourdes?"

Excitement immediately filled the young sibling's eyes and face as he nodded. Hal returned the smile, then wrapped his free arm around Matt's shoulders, and together, they made their way through the crowds.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After spending over an hour hanging out with Matt before he had to go on sentry duty, Hal started making his way back to the infirmary. He hoped that Lourdes was free so he could get the physio thing done and out of the way. The sooner his shoulder was back to normal, the sooner he could ditch the sling. Apparently, his timing was perfect because as he approached the building, Lourdes came out and looked around. When her eyes caught sight of him, she smiled.

"There you are. I was about to look for you." Lourdes said as Hal came to stand in front of her.

"Well, I have been working on perfecting my timing the last several weeks." Hal responded with a slightly cocky grin.

"That's a good quality to have. Come on, follow me." Lourdes told him, still smiling, then turned around and walked back into the infirmary. Hal followed right behind her.

As they entered one of the exam rooms, the second time that day for Hal, Lourdes stopped suddenly and turned to him, "Hal, I know that a lot of people have been asking you this, but, are you okay? Cause it's alright if you're not."

When Anne told her early that morning that she wanted her to be the one helping Hal with his physio, she learned a little bit of what the young man revealed to his family a few days ago, and got the results from the tests the older doctor had done yesterday. To say she was more than a little worried about her friend and former crush would be an understatement.

Hal did sigh a little, but didn't appear upset at all with her question. Instead, he gave a small, but reassuring half-smile and said, "I'm fine Lourdes."

The young doctor didn't believe the soldier for one moment, but like everyone else who knew Hal, she knew that unless he opened up voluntarily, he wouldn't talk about his feelings at all. Even when his Dad, his whole family really, confronted him, he still kept how everything he went through affected him, how it still was affecting him, to himself. She knew that nothing she said now would change that. However, that didn't mean she couldn't let him know that she was there for him if he needed.

"Well, if you ever want to talk, I'm here." Lourdes offered with a sweet, comforting smile.

"Thanks." Hal replied, smiling in return. While he was definitely starting to feel very smothered, it was nice to know that there were all these people there for him. Sometimes that's all you need, especially if you spend over three months by yourself with no one to help you, except for the person who was trying to manipulate and control you.

"So, let's get to it, shall we?" Lourdes the said after a brief moment of silence. Hal nodded, wanting nothing more than to get this physio done with.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Ben stood alone on the roof of a building near the gate. He had been up there on sentry duty for nearly two hours and had another three before his shift was over. He didn't mind though, he liked the quiet, the solitude. It gave him time to think without being distracted, and it kept him away from Hal. He knew that sounded bad, but it was the truth.

After Hal had told them what happened while he was in that experimental ghetto place, and what he did, Ben did his best to avoid his big brother, though it wasn't that hard. It seemed that Hal was avoiding people too, but not for the same reasons. He was pretty sure that Hal was avoiding everyone because he didn't want to talk to anyone, and probably because he was embarrassed about how he lost it when he revealed what happened during the months he was gone, and while Ben's reasons for avoiding Hal had to do with that night, it wasn't that.

The knowledge that his big brother killed a harnessed kid by breaking his neck weighed heavily in Ben's mind. In his head, he understood why it happened. Hal had been experimented on, tortured, was being attacked, and most likely scared to death. And if the harnessed kid was indeed about to hurt of kill his brother, which he most likely was, then it was a case of self-defense. Ben's heart on the other hand, didn't agree with his brain at all.

Ben remembered how it felt being harnessed, though he never talked about it. The one time he did was when Matt asked, not long after he was rescued and de-harnessed. While he did have the feeling that the skitters did care about them in a way, and knew exactly what they needed, Ben remembered not feeling anything. He had been completely numb, and nearly mindless. At first, he was completely aware of everything going on around him, though he wasn't in control of anything. Then, as time passed, he slowly became less and less alert, becoming nothing more than a mindless, human, drone.

Ever since he started fighting for the 2nd Mass, and saw how the harnessed kids were treated, how they were basically robots, he knew he had to find a way to save them. They were just kids, innocent kids who had been taken away from their families and were being controlled by the Overlords. It was why he was so excited when the Volm gave them the machine to remove the harnesses. Due to his past experience being harnessed, he felt the need to help them, to stand up for them, to remind the other soldiers that they were innocent kids, and when Hal admitted that he killed one, Ben felt torn between his desire to protect the harnessed kids, and his love and loyalty to his brother.

He knew that Hal understood it wasn't the harnessed kids' fault, or at least, he seemed to, and he knew that his big brother wouldn't have killed the kid if he didn't have too, or at least, Ben hoped he wouldn't. He had been wrestling those thoughts throughout the night Hal told them about what he did. No matter how hard he tried to tell himself that it wasn't his brother's fault, that it was just a bad situation all around, a voice reminded him that the harnessed boy was innocent, which ended up with Ben wondering if that boy's family was still alive, it they were looking for him.

That was why he went to the infirmary yesterday when he heard that Hal was there, having finally agreed to let Anne check him over. Ben had hoped if he could see for himself what all had happened to his older brother, he would know for sure that it wasn't Hal's fault. That he could stop the doubts in his head. However, for some reason Hal got their Dad to get him and Matt out of the room. Ben knew it was because there was something his sibling didn't want them to see, that much was obvious, but he didn't know why.

Ben was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of approaching footsteps on the fire escape. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see his Dad climb onto the rooftop. As the parent walked over to the son, he asked, "How's it going?"

"Good, it's going good. Real quiet." Ben answered.

"Has been for a while. Either that means the Espheni don't have time or the resources to waste attacking us, or they're planning something big." Tom said, coming to stand right beside his middle son.

"Either way, it means we're doing our job." Ben responded, which caused his Dad to grin.

"That it does, that it does." Tom quickly agreed.

For the next few minutes, the two stood in silence, watching the group below and the streets beyond the gate and walls for any sign of skitters or Mechs. Tom broke it though when he asked, "You alright? Haven't seen you around much in the last few days."

"Been busy." The blonde responded, not meeting his Dad's eyes. Tom though wasn't fooled. He knew his son, he could tell something was up.

"Ben, what's wrong?" Tom pushed, not willing to let his middle son push him away like his oldest was.

"Hal." Tom let out a knowing sigh when Ben said that, but stayed quiet and let Ben continue, "I know, that I can only, really, imagine what he went through, and that I wasn't there so I can't judge, but,"

Ben looked down, trying to think of a way to tell his Dad what was on his mind without sounding like a heartless, inconsiderate, jerk. It took a minute, and though he still wasn't sure if it was the right way to say it, he went ahead anyways, "That harnessed kid was innocent Dad, and Hal killed him. I know that the kid was probably going to hurt Hal, but it wasn't his fault. He was being controlled."

"I know that Ben. But it wasn't Hal's fault either. It was just, a terrible situation all around." Tom replied, not really surprised at what was going through the blonde's head.

Since Ben had been harnessed before, he felt a lot of sympathy and compassion to those children who were still under the Espheni's control. Of course he would be hurt and confused by the knowledge of what his brother did, self-defense or not. What worried Tom most though, was that Ben would become mad at Hal for what he did, that he wouldn't understand how complicated the situation actually was, that he wouldn't see how guilty Hal was already feeling and would make it worse. This whole situation was psychological warfare at its best and Tom wasn't about to let his two oldest sons lose.

"I know, or at least, my head know. But everything else," Ben stopped mid-sentence, not sure how to continue as well as not really wanting too.

"I get it. For now though, please don't say anything about this to Hal. He's really struggling with, everything. He feels bad enough and I don't want anything or anyone to make it worse." Honestly, Tom highly doubted that Ben would say or do anything to hurt his big brother, especially not on purpose, neither would Hal. Though his oldest two would fight like cats and dogs, they never, ever, tried to actually hurt each other. But with Ben's mixed feelings, his lack of knowledge of how badly his older brother had been tortured, and with such a sensitive and difficult situation, the father needed to be sure.

Ben's head snapped to the side to look at his Dad when he heard that, a shocked and almost offended expression on his face. On one hand, he couldn't believe his Dad felt the need to say that. There was no way Ben would say anything about this to his older brother. It was one of the reasons he was sort of avoiding Hal, so he wouldn't accidentally say anything.

On the other hand though, he understood where his father was coming from. Even a blind man could see Hal wasn't handling everything that happened to him very well and no one wanted to make it worse. However, there was something in his father's voice that gave Ben the notion that the former history teacher knew something the blonde didn't. It made Ben wonder what happened in the infirmary after he and Matt were kicked out.

The teenager pushed the thought away for now though and said, "Don't worry. I won't say anything."

"Good, thank you." Tom responded, giving him a small but grateful smile.

The two then fell into another period of silence, though it wasn't much of an easy one as the one they were in before, both of their thoughts and worries on Hal. The silence was broken though when Ben asked, "Do you think Hal's going to be okay?"

Tom sighed a little before answering, "I really, really, hope so, but honestly, I don't know. I just don't know.


	26. New Problems Arising

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! Ben won't do anything like that, but he will learn some important stuff later on. Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Actually because of quarantine, I'm getting a lot of writing done, so if I actually finish this story ahead of time, I'll start posting twice a week instead of only once. Hopefully I will be able to do it. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

"Thank you for coming on such short notice Cochise." Anne said when she saw Tom lead the Volm into the exam room that she and Dr. Kadar were in.

"When Tom Mason explained to me what was happening with his son and what you and Dr. Kadar found, I was more than happy to be of any assistance." Cochise responded with a slight nod as he and Tom walked over to the table Anne and Kadar were standing in front of.

"Here are the results of the tests we ran on Hal." Anne said as she handed the file with the results to the alien.

Tom waited a total of two minutes after Cochise got the papers and started to read through them before he asked, "So, have you seen anything like this before?"

Cochise stared hard at the results for another few seconds, then tilted his head and answered, "It does appear vaguely familiar, but I'm afraid I can't place it."

"Do you at least know if it's good or bad?" Tom then questioned, desperate for any kind of answers regarding his oldest son.

It had been over a week since they had discovered the alien DNA in Hal, but they had learned nothing new since then. Hal was still very reluctant to share anything that happened in the Espheni experiment camp, but what little he did reveal made it clear he knew next to nothing about what Karen and the Overlords did to him. That left Anne and Kadar to only theorize about what the alien DNA could do to and for Hal and why the Espheni would try to change their prisoners' DNA. Tom had been hoping that Cochise would have some answers or some kind of insight, but it was becoming clear that that was not the case.

"You say that Hal has informed you that the Espheni destroyed their base and killed their prisoners themselves, correct?" Cochise asked without answering Tom's question as he looked over at the human resistance leader. Wordlessly, Tom nodded as he tried not to remember the haunted look on Hal's face when he told the father what he witnessed the aliens do. Cochise took his mind off that when he said, "If that is indeed that case, then I believe that it is not at all good."

"What do you mean?" Tom practically demanded when he heard that, growing more worried than he already was.

"Well, if the Espheni went so far as to destroy their base and eliminate all their prisoners can only, really, mean one thing. That their, experiment, had gone wrong and they deemed it necessary for everything and everyone involved to be destroyed." Cochise explained.

"What exactly do you mean by it going wrong?" Kadar joined the conversation.

"I, obviously cannot say for certain as I do not know, but it could be a few reasons. For example, it could be that their experiments had disastrous side effects." Cochise suggested, looking over at Dr. Kadar.

Before he could say anything else though, Tom turned his attention over to Anne and asked, "You didn't find any side effects that Hal's suffering from because of what the Espheni did, did you?"

"No, but that doesn't mean there isn't any." The doctor answered, slightly shaking her head. When she saw the father pale at her words, she grimaced in sympathy.

"It could simply be that the side effects haven't shown up yet." Kadar said what Anne didn't. Tom stared at the two doctors, then looked back over at Cochise.

"If Hal doesn't have any side effects, if their, experiments, on him worked, but didn't on the others, would the Espheni still have decided to kill him?" Tom questioned, growing confused and worried about his oldest child with each passing moment.

"I am not sure. I would think that if Hal isn't suffering from any side effects, they would've wanted him alive, to continue whatever agenda they had. However, it is also possible that the part of the experiment that had gone wrong wasn't done to your son." Cochise replied.

"What are the odds that it's the last one?" Tom wondered, hoping for any kind of assurance that Hal was okay and safe.

"It would depend on how much they wished to succeed. In my personal opinion though, the odds of it being my latter suggestion, are not in your favour." Cochise answered regretfully.

When Anne saw Tom immediately became paler as a look of fear come upon his face, she jumped into the conversation, "Hal did say that the prisoners started attacking the skitters. Maybe they killed them and destroyed the base because they couldn't control them."

Tom shot Anne a grateful look before turning back to Cochise, waiting for him to give his thoughts on Anne's information. The Volm stayed quiet for a minute, clearly thinking it over before he replied, "That is very possible. However, they control their captives with their harnesses and probes, or eyebugs as you call them. A problem of revolt would be fairly easy for them to remedy."

Everyone became silent as they thought about the logic behind Cochise's words. He was completely right. As far as they all knew, when the Overlords attacked the planets they had, they would harness the prisoners they took, make them their slaves to do their bidding. If they were experimenting on people for whatever reason, why wouldn't they make sure they could control them? Tom had always thought that the reason Karen didn't bug Hal and make him a mole again was because she had done it before, so she wouldn't have the element of surprise, but now he wondered if there was another reason.

"Am I the only one who is completely confused by all of this?" Tom asked with a frustrated tone. Before anyone could reply though, he added, "I mean, none of this, none of anything about any of this, is making any sense."

"There is still a lot of information we don't know Tom." Anne said as she walked over to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Once we learn what that information is, I'm sure it will all make sense."

Tom glanced over at her for a few seconds before replying, "The only way we can get information about Hal and the experiments the Espheni were doing is from Karen. And if we try to get answers from her, she's going to wonder how we know about all of this and why we want answers. We may not know much, but one thing I do know, is that the only reason Hal is relatively safe right now, is that Karen thinks he's dead. I'm not risking her finding out that he's alive and with us for answers that might not be needed."

"And what if it is needed?" Kadar inquired, causing everyone to turn their heads to face him, "What it Hal does start show side effects? Side effects that could cause him lose control and harm us, make him violent? What then?"

The silence that followed Dr. Kadar's questions was deafening. Whether or not Hal was a danger to the 2nd Mass was a very serious question that had been in everyone's head once the truth about his abilities was revealed, even though Tom and Weaver had managed to keep anyone from doing something about it. While there still was the uncertainty if Hal could control his powers, the fact that the oldest Mason son refused to use them at all somewhat pushed that question on the back burner. But if the young man did lose control, if he did start attacking anyone and everyone around him, what were they to do then?

There was no doubt in Tom's mind that Hal would ever hurt his family, at least, not if he could control it, but from the way his son had described how the other prisoners who were experimented on had gone after the aliens, they weren't in control at all. They might not even have been in their right mind at all. Sure, Hal seemed to be okay now, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen to him at all. If he did lose control and start attacking everyone, how were they supposed to deal with that. The Espheni dealt with it by killing them, but was that the only way? If it was, there was no way Tom was going to do that to his son.

The whole situation and questions reminded the father of when Ben was being hunted by the Espheni due to his connection with the rebel skitters. He refused to give his middle son to their alien enemies, but was pointed to the fact that the 2nd Mass couldn't protect him because he was putting the entire group in danger by Weaver. Before Tom could actually make a decision though, Ben made one. He decided to leave to keep them all safe and to find the rebel skitters. It was a decision that Tom understood yet hated. It took everything in him to keep himself from stopping his teen-aged son from walking away from his family.

The situation they were in with Hal though was a bit different. Hal wasn't bringing the aliens to their doorstep, not yet anyways. That could change if the Espheni found out to he was alive and with them, but for right now, they were being attacked because of their own efforts of destroying the aliens that invaded their planet. The only threat that Hal posed to the 2nd Mass was losing control of his powers, at the moment anyways. If he did end up having the same side effects that the other Espheni prisoners, then they would have a big problem because Tom refused to have his son killed. There had to be another way.

"Considering the fact that the Espheni destroyed the base and killed their prisoners when side effects began to appear, it would be safe to assume that they would not know how to reverse what they did, nor would they care to help if you went to them if Hal begins to have side effects." Cochise responded, not seeming to notice the tension in the room.

When Tom realized that Kadar was still watching him, still waiting for his answer, he decided to give him one, "You and Anne just said you haven't found any side effects from what the aliens did to Hal. For all we know, they might have stopped whatever it was they were doing that was affecting the others before they even got to Hal. We have no idea if he is going to have any side effects. Until we do, I don't have to think about that. I won't."

Kadar straightened up and appeared as though he was about to protest when Anne literally stepped in between them and said, "Okay, let's all calm down, alright? Yes, there are some things that could happen and could go wrong," the doctor looked over at Tom at that before looking over at Kadar as she continued, "but for now, everything seems to be okay. Let's leave it at that for now."

Tom still looked a bit upset, as did Kadar, but neither of them said anything. Anne knew that Kadar had a valid point and concern, but what he seemed to forget was that this was Tom's son they were talking about. Tom Mason may be the leader of the 2nd Mass, but that didn't mean he could remain objective when it came to his children. Hardly any parent could, especially when discussing a situation as serious as the man's own son turning against them. Briefly, Anne wondered if that was another reason Hal stayed away so long, because he was scared that the same side effects that affected the other prisoners would happen to him and he didn't want his family to get hurt.

"Either way, your son will need to learn how to control his new abilities. Unless of course you have a way to separate his DNA from the alien DNA and remove it from his body." Cochise changed the subject, which Anne and Tom were both grateful for.

"Unfortunately, no we don't. Hal is going to have these abilities and the DNA for the rest of his life." Anne replied, sounding regretful and a bit upset that there wasn't anything more that she could do to help.

Tom though, gave her a small, reassuring smile and said, "It's okay, we'll deal with it,"

"I will see if my comrades and I can find any more information about the Espheni base, but unfortunately, there is another topic that we must discuss, one I believe is far more urgent." Cochise told the small group of humans, causing all of them to look back over at him again, this time with more worried curiosity than before.

"And that is?" Tom prompted the alien to continue as he felt his patience thinning.

"We have learned that the rest of the Espheni ships are making their way towards your planet with the intention of landing." Cochise informed the humans in the room.

"What do you mean? I thought all the Espheni were here on Earth already." Tom responded, Anne and Kadar nodding immediately after, letting their Volm friend know that they also thought all the Espheni were on their planet already.

"Oh no. Only about half of the Espheni population are here at the moment. They are the ones that come to see if the planet they plan to invade suits their needs. If it does, then they attack. As soon as they feel they have control over the planet, the rest of the Espheni will arrive and destroy any remaining resistances and completely occupy the planet." Cochise explained.

"So, if the rest of the Espheni are coming to Earth now, then that means they are planning on occupying our planet." Tom surmised, hoping what he understood was wrong. They were having a hard enough time defeating the aliens that were already on Earth, even with the help of the Volm. The odds of defeating them when they had reinforcements were almost zero.

"That is correct." Cochise confirmed.

"So, they've occupied other planets before coming here." Anne focused on that bit of information, thinking that if the aliens occupied other planets but were now trying to occupy theirs', that it meant there was a chance they could make the Espheni flee Earth.

"Yes, at least five that we are aware of. We were able to get the Espheni to leave, but not before the planet's original occupants were practically decimated, unfortunately." Cochise admitted, looking truly remorseful that his people weren't able to help the other victims of the Espheni as much as he'd like.

The silence that followed the Volm's revelation was so strong, they would've been able to hear a pin drop. It wasn't the sound of a pin falling to the floor that broke the silence though. It was the sound of a nearby explosion, followed by gunfire and screaming.


	27. The Jomei

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! I'm hoping so too! It might take another week or two before I'm at that point though. I'll let you all know when I will start doing that. Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Sorry, I know it sucks when stories you like end, but eventually they all do. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Hal sat alone on the steps of one of the many building that circled the courtyard. He had been doing a lot of that over the last nine days. Ever since Anne told him he had to wear the sling in order to make sure his shoulder healed properly, he had nothing to do, except of course the physiotherapy he had to do with Lourdes to help his shoulder get its strength back. To say he was getting bored and restless would be an understatement.

"Hey." The young man turned his over to the left when he heard Maggie's voice coming from that direction. He smiled when he saw the blonde coming towards him and replied, "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" Maggie asked as Hal moved over to give her space to sit beside him, which she immediately did.

"Just thinking, and watching." Hal answered, moving his head to look back at the crowds for a few seconds before turning his gaze back over to Maggie.

"You could probably do that without looking like an outsider hiding in the shadows." Maggie said with a slightly teasing voice.

"True, but then I'd be surrounded by people who think I'm a threat and should either be kicked out or killed." Hal replied with a serious tone that instantly caused Maggie to drop the smile. She lowered her head as she tried to think of a response to that, but raised it when she heard Hal mutter, "'Outsider'. Yeah, that sounds about right."

"You're not an outsider Hal." Maggie told him. Hal then looked back over at her with an are-you-serious?, kind of expression, but Maggie didn't take back her statement as she continued, "You may be a little different now, but not in the way it matters. You belong here Hal Mason and anyone who says otherwise is a fool."

Hal slowly gave her a half-smile as he listened to her, though he didn't really feel worthy of her defending him. He didn't really feel worthy of anything if he was being honest with himself. Between what he did when he had the eye-bug, and what he had done when he lost control of his powers, he had hurt so many, gotten so many people killed. That wasn't going to just go away. Nor would anybody forget about it anytime soon.

"What are you doing over here? Nothing to do today?" Hal changed the subject, putting the focus on her as he no longer wanted to talk about what was going on with him, and wanted to distraction.

"Not until late tonight. I got stuck with sentry duty. And I came over because I saw you sitting here. I didn't want you to be alone. You've been alone too much lately." Maggie answered, her voice becoming more sympathetic at the end. Hal however, began to feel a bit defensive.

Ever since he revealed to his Dad and Weaver that he was indeed alive and returned to the 2nd Mass, he felt that he was being closely watched. Considering the circumstance and what happened in the past, Hal didn't blame them. It was annoying and a little nerve-wracking, but completely understandable and reasonable. However, as time went on, instead of getting better, it only got worse, especially with his family and Maggie. Apparently, they knew him better than he gave them credit for. Or he had really sucked at hiding at what was going on.

Despite that though, Hal continued to hope that his family would stop pushing and prodding. He just wanted everything to go back to normal. But they kept pushing and he finally broke, and it got worse. Not the questions and the attempts to get him talking about what was going on with him. They had backed off on that front now that they knew what happened when he was with Karen. However, it became clear that they were even more worried about him than they were before, and he knew it was only a matter of time before there was another confrontation.

"I'm fine Maggie. You don't have to worry about me." Hal told her, his annoyance seeping into his voice a little.

"Maybe, but we do. And, you're not the most honest person when it comes to your well-being." Maggie pointed out, causing Hal to instinctively smirk. He couldn't really argue with that.

"You know what's kind of funny? About 6 months after the invasion happened, before we met you and Pope and his group, it was Matt's birthday. He told me and our Dad that he wished everything would go back to the way it was. I totally understood that. I mean, we were in a war, our Mom was dead, Ben was missing. I wanted to go back to the way it was, but not as badly as I do now." Hal revealed quietly, turning his gaze to the ground.

Maggie was silent for a few minutes, not really sure what to say. She understood what he was trying to say and wasn't really surprised that he was feeling this way. The blonde knew that Hal had been through a lot since the invasion happened. His Mom was killed, his brother taken and harnessed, his girlfriend taken and harnessed, thinking his father was dead for three months, Karen manipulating them, Ben taking off, being in a coma only to wake up and find himself paralyzed, being controlled by Karen, thinking Anne and Lexi were dead, and now all of this. Honestly, she was a little surprised he was still alive and kicking. If it had been anyone else, she was sure they'd be dead by now.

But it all hadn't happened to anyone else. It happened to Hal Mason. The young man with a pure heart, who cared about everyone, who was usually always smiling, who took whatever life handed him and powered though it. Yet, despite everything he had suffered, he kept moving and did his best to hide how much he was actually struggling, refusing to ask for any kind of help from anyone. The fact that he had such a hard time opening up, that he felt like he couldn't talk to anyone broke her heart. He didn't deserve any of this.

"I'm don't blame you for wanting that. A lot has happened since the aliens attacked." Maggie told him. She had meant the words to be comforting, but she quickly realized from the way his shoulders tensed up and his eyes hardened slightly that he saw it as pity.

Before he could start shutting her out, Maggie said, "Don't do that. Don't clam up. I didn't mean to sound, like I'm pitying you. I'm, sympathizing. There's a difference."

The corner of Hal's mouth twitched upwards in a half smile as he heard her stammer a little, but he didn't say anything else, nor did the tension in his shoulders leave. He knew that Maggie knew that he hated being pitied, he knew that she would never intentionally pity him, nor would he do the same to her. Lately though, that was the one thing he felt he had been getting, from his friends and family at least. From the other members of the 2nd Mass, he felt their anger and mistrust.

"Maggie," Hal started, but before he could say anything else, a loud explosion filled the air. Seconds later, people began screaming and guns began firing.

Without a word or even a glance, both Hal and Maggie jumped to their feet and ran towards the source of the noise. It was a little difficult as the fight that had apparently broken out had people running in all directions, most heading towards the buildings for safety, the others heading towards the fight like Hal and Maggie were. It was complete chaos, much worse than the other times the Espheni had attacked them, but the two young adults had no idea why, not until they reached the gate. Then, they saw the problem.

Part of the wall, only about ten feet away from the gate on the left side, was gone. Rubble stretched out for several yards on both sides of their now broken barrier and on the ground, laid at least five people, come were actually covered with parts of the wall. From the distance between Hal and them, he couldn't tell if they were still alive or unconscious, but seeing that others were already checking on them, he turned his attention to what else was going on. Behind the wall, was a large horde of skitters charging the open spot in the barrier, trying to get into Chinatown. The remaining fighters were trying their best to protect the camp, but they were quickly becoming overwhelmed.

Maggie immediately grabbed her gun that was slung over her shoulder and ran towards the fight. Hal however, stood still and stared. He hadn't been involved in a fight against the aliens since they attacked and destroyed the Espheni base weeks ago. The young man wanted to help them fight, but he couldn't. Not with his arm in a sling. Even if he did take it off and help, he's still run the risk of losing control and letting the skitter know about him. And if they knew and escaped and reported to their Overlord, or worse, Karen. Then they'd be in even more trouble than they are now. So the best thing for him to do now was to get out of the way.

Hal rushed over to the closest building and pressed his back against the wall so he wasn't in anyone's way and was safe but could still see everything that was happening. Those that were running away from the chaos were pretty much all gone, safely hidden in the buildings. The only people left were the fighters who were still running towards the battle. There weren't as many soldiers as there were when they were in Charleston but they still had a fair amount. Watching them all gather at the wall though, Hal could clearly see that they were far outnumbered, yet he stayed in his spot even though he wasn't fighting. It was one thing to use his abilities on an attack that theoretically could've been done by anyone and destroy all the skitters so there were no witnesses, but it was another to do it while the Espheni were attacking them. Even if all the skitters were killed, the Overlords would know something strange happened and come looking.

"Hal!" The young man turned his head and found his Dad, Anne and Cochise running towards him. The second they reached him, his Dad shouted, "What happened?"

"No clue! Heard an explosion and found this!" Hal yelled back. Even though they were standing right beside each other, the gunfire was so loud that they had to shout in order to hear each other.

"Skitters should not be able to create explosions, unless of course they have a bomb but they usually have their Mechs doing that, or their beamers." Cochise pointed out, his voice also extremely loud so he could be heard. His words however had Hal furrowing his eyebrows. The Volm was right, if the Espheni wanted to blow something up, they used beamers or Mechs. Skitters never used weapons when they fought, they just straight out attacked. But during the entire time that Hal has been watching this battle, he hadn't seen any Mechs or beamers.

It was then that they all heard the sound of an engine, but it was coming from above them. All it took was one glance and Weaver, who had also joined the fight, yelled, "Beamer! Everyone duck!"

The warning came just in time for the soldiers closest to the vehicles and buildings. For those who were by the wall and out in the open, it was too late. The beamer only fired one shot, but that was all that was needed to make matters ten times worse. The shot was aimed and hit the large crowd of both skitters and humans right by the wall. Hal had closed his eyes, turned his head and ducked when Weaver called out his warning, but after the explosion, he looked back to the wall and felt his stomach drop.

The smell of burning flesh and smoke filled his nose just seconds before his eyes fully registered the sight in front of him. There were bodies all over the pavement, humans and skitters, and more of them were on fire. He couldn't tell if they were dead or unconscious though. Screams then began to fill the air, replacing the sound of gunfire. There were other soldiers and skitters that were caught in the blast that weren't killed or knocked out, but they were also on fire. The burning skitters were running around like headless chickens while the humans were either dropping to the ground and rolling to put themselves out or were screaming in pain and shock.

Hal couldn't breathe. The fires, the smoke, the screams were overwhelming all of his senses, and he wasn't the only one. Those that had managed to get out of the way before the beamer fired were doing the same thing. Or at least, some of them were. The others rushing towards their injured comrades to help them as well as resuming the shooting at the attacking aliens. It wasn't until Hal heard the beamer's engine getting louder once again that he was able to pull his gaze away and up at the sky, just in time to see the beamer circling back towards them.

Screams and shouts got louder as everyone else realized that the alien spaceship was coming back. Once glance at the skitters that were still alive and not on fire getting ready to charge them again before looking back at the beamer, gave Hal an idea. Once that would take down both the beamer and most, if not all, of the skitters. Once that wouldn't reveal his abilities to the enemy aliens, one that would keep his presence secret from the Overlords and Karen. Quickly making up his mind and not giving himself anytime to change it, Hal stepped forward.

Tom's heart was beating wildly in his chest, just like it always did in a fight, but when he saw Hal stepping onto the street into the line of fire, it went into overdrive. He started making his way through the chaos, intending to call out to him and pull him back to safety when he saw Hal raise his hand towards the sky. He raised his head and found that the beamer that had shot at them was coming back. That motivated him even more to get not only Hal but Ben to safety as well, but then he noticed the expression on his oldest son's face. It was like he was concentrating on something. So Tom stayed back and watched.

Within seconds, Tom saw something strange happen. The beamer flew down closer to them, closer than it had last time but it didn't fire at all. It left them completely alone. It actually didn't fire at anything. What it did do though was charge right into the horde of remaining skitters before coming to a stop as it crashed a little ways into the building in front of it. Right after that, Tom saw Hal's knees buckle, but he managed to stay standing.

"Your eldest son was right to keep his survival a secret from the Espheni, Tom Mason." Tom looked over at Cochise in slight shock. He was so focused on Hal and what was happening that he didn't even notice Cochise come up beside him.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked, turning his full attention to the Volm.

"If the Espheni found out that not only was he still alive but that he has abilities that he can use against them, they would not hesitate to kill him." Cochise explained.

Tom's entire body suddenly flooded with fear as their alien ally's words registered in his brain. He still knew next to nothing about what exactly Hal went through. And he still had several questions, including why Hal didn't want to use his powers. Now, he had his answer and it frightened him to the core.


	28. Espheni Origins

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

"Jomei? What's that?" Hal asked, lowering his throbbing head to rest on his hand. He was exhausted, his entire body was sore and all he really wanted to do was go to bed.

That had been his plan right after the fight against the attacking Espheni. Using his powers to force the beamer to crash into the skitters had taken a lot out of him. However, his Dad and Weaver had other plans. Hal was sure that if he told them how he was feeling, they would let him go. Maggie actually looked like she was going to tell his Dad off when he asked them to meet the others, which consisted of Weaver, Cochise, and Anne, in their 'board' room, but Hal had had enough of being smothered over, so he agreed. He was really starting to regret it now, even though Cochise sounded like he was talking about something important.

"They were an alien race, on the planet Jom. It was the first planet that was destroyed by the Espheni, and the birthplace of the Espheni Queen." Cochise answered. If the room wasn't quiet before, it was deathly silent now as Hal, Tom, Weaver, Anne, and Maggie processed what the Volm said.

"The Espheni have a queen?" Weaver questioned at the same time that Anne said, "They attacked their own planet?"

Tom stared at his friend and girlfriend before he looked back over at Cochise with a confused but serious expression, one that everyone in the room was wearing, then said, "Explain please."

Taking a deep breath, Cochise started the story he had been told along with several other Volm. One that they didn't know if it was true or not.

"Thousands of years ago, Jom was one of the most advanced and powerful planets in their solar system. The Jomei had abilities, powers, over almost anything. Water, rocks, plants, weather, fire, electricity. Not only that, they were telekinetic and telepathic, some strong enough to actually control other Jomei."

"Why would they want to control their own kind? And couldn't they use their own powers to keep them out of their heads?" Maggie wondered.

"Not all of the Jomei had these powers, only a select few. It was the ones with abilities that were in charge of their government, military, law enforcement and more." Cochise informed them.

"That sounds like a good way to anger those who were powerless." Hal commented.

"Actually no," Cochise objected, "they were quite a fair, gentle, and peaceful race. They didn't even really need their military."

"So what happened?" Anne asked.

"According to the stories that I have heard, there was a Jomei who did have powers, but not a lot. She wanted more in order to rise through the ranks of government and of their society. So she started doing experiments. First on herself, then on those without abilities. Some of the powerless Jomei wanted powers themselves, so they let her experiment on them, but she had also abducted some as well. Not only was kidnapping illegal, her experiments were as well. The Jomei were of the belief that nature was sacred, and anything at all that disturbed the natural order of things, which included who was born with powers, how many, and what kind, was wrong.

"Soon, their law enforcement arrested her for her crimes, along with those involved. Before she could be tried however, she and some of her followers managed to flee to the nearby planet called Dorn, home of the Dornia. Within five years, they managed to enslave the entire planet using their powers, technology, and experiments. Then, they returned to Jom and attacked. It took several years, but eventually, they won." Cochise finished the story.

For a minute, the entire room was silent, everyone thinking over everything their alien ally just told them. Then, they all looked at each other in confusion before Tom turned back to Cochise and said, "We're going to need more explanations than that."

"The experiments changed their body structure, abilities and more. They became the Overlords, the ones in charge of the skitters." Cochise told them, and a look of realization dawned on everyone's faces.

"So the skitters," Weaver started.

"Were the Dornia," Cochise finished the Colonel's thought, "but the Jomei's experiments and the harnesses have changed their body structure and physiology as well. They no longer look like they originally did."

Anne nodded, remembering something she and Lourdes had discovered over two years ago. They were staying in a school and Tom had brought in a live skitter. She had ended up killing it in order to test a theory, so she and Lourdes did an autopsy of it. What they found shocked and worried both of them. The skitter had a harness under the hard shell of its back. And with everything that Ben had discovered and told them about the rebel skitters, well, she wasn't surprised by the knowledge that they were enslaved by the Overlords. She didn't think anyone in the room was. The only thing that was surprising was the information about the Jomei.

"So the Jomei chick that started the experiments is this 'Espheni Queen' then." Maggie chimed in. Cochise nodded his confirmation.

"How come you've never mentioned any of this before?" Tom wondered, not recalling his Volm friend telling him anything about this.

"Well, I never thought to. I never thought it would be important. Some Volm don't even believe what I just told you is true." Cochise answered.

"So why mention this now?" Hal asked, rubbing his forehead to soothe his headache, unaware of the concerned looks he was getting from everyone.

"Your father asked me about the foreign DNA they found in you. I was not certain of what it is, but when I saw you use your new, abilities, to take control of the beamer, I realized what it is. It's Jomei DNA."

Again, the room was silent before Hal said, "They injected me with Jomei DNA? Why would they do that?"

"With all the experiments they've done on themselves, they've changed their own DNA. They became their own species and can no longer access the powers that they wanted. The Overlords were once Jomei, but powerless ones. The Queen is the only one that does, but now we speculate that she is no longer as strong or powerful as she once was. So, now whenever that Espheni invade a new planet, they try to see if the Jomei DNA that they kept when they destroyed Jom will bond with that planet's inhabitants." Cochise answered.

"Why would they try to give the race they're attacking powers? Wouldn't it just be used against them?" Weaver chimed in.

"Maybe they were looking for a way to control them if it did work." Tom suggested. When everyone looked over at him, he turned to his son, "Hal, you said that Karen told you they couldn't do this experiment on people with harnesses or eyebugs, right?"

Hal nodded and Tom continued, "So they would need another way to control people injected with this DNA, one that doesn't have anything to do with Espheni DNA or technology, like brainwashing and indoctrination. Like at the place Matt and other kids were taken to."

Everybody visibly tensed, none more so than Hal. He was still haunted by what the aliens put him through. Everyone in the 2nd Mass probably knew it, and the thought of his baby brother being put through that made him sick to his stomach. Already Matt had to deal with things that no child ever should. It just wasn't fair. None of this was.

_It's the world we live in, not the world we want_, Hal's own words that he said to his Dad so long ago suddenly came to his mind. He shoved them away though to focus on what was happening now.

"I'm assuming since we haven't seen any kind of aliens use the kind of powers you mentioned, that it hasn't worked?" Maggie spoke up.

"No, not that I'm certain of. There had been times they've gotten close, but then something would go wrong and they would stop. They only have a limited supply of pure Jomei DNA left." The Volm informed her.

"Can't they just make more?" The doctor asked, remembering that before the invasion, they had the technology to duplicate DNA strands. She couldn't see why aliens that were more technologically advanced wouldn't have that.

"They had at one point tried, but when they did, the DNA became corrupted. They had to stop or risk ruining all the DNA samples they had left. Even if they were able to create more, that would not guarantee that whoever they gave it to, would give them the abilities. The DNA is unpredictable." Cochise explained.

"So I got lucky?" Hal said with a slightly sarcastic voice.

Cochise stared at him for a moment before he replied, "Some may consider you lucky, yes, but some would not due to the target it had placed on you and the possible side effects."

"But then why haven't they targeted Lexi? They know she's alive, she was one of their experiments, and she has powers." Anne pointed out.

"Her alien DNA is Espheni, not Jomei. I doubt the Overlords would have much difficulty controlling her if they tried."

"But they haven't." Anne told the alien.

"Well, she hasn't really been in the fight. She came with us on an attack once and that was just to get information. She's probably not really on their radar." Tom responded to his girlfriend.

"It is probably best if you continue to limit both her involvement and your eldest's. If the Espheni were to learn that he is still alive,"

"They'll try to kill me." Hal interrupted Cochies, sounding as though he had already known and accepted it.

A sad expression came upon Cochise's face as he said, "Yes. I believe they will."

All the occupants in the room turned their heads in Hal's direction but it was Maggie who laid her hand over his and told him, "We won't let that happen."

Hal gave her a small smile before turned to address the whole group.

"If that's all, I'm going to go and try to get to my bed before I pass out." As he said that, he stood up and walked out of the room. No one tried to stop him as it was obvious that he was exhausted and they knew the toll it took on Hal whenever he used his abilities.

Once he walked out of the room, Maggie looked around at everyone else. Tom looked worried. Anne looked a mix of worry and thoughtfulness, like she was taking in all the information Cochise gave her and was deciding what to do with it. Weaver looked like he was trying to come up with a game plan now that he knew all of this while Cochise actually appear a little nervous, as though he wasn't sure what to expect from his human comrades after telling them all he knew.

After several seconds of silence, Maggie stood up and also walked out of the room. She gave no reason, no explanation as to where she was going but no one asked and they didn't try to stop her. They all had an idea of to where she was going and all thought it was a good idea. Even if he was just tired and was going to get some sleep, no one thought that Hal should be alone right now. He had been alone for too long.

"Do you really think that the Overlords will come after Hal? It's not like they, and all the skitters know that he was there and was experimented on. And since they think everyone there is dead, they won't be looking for him." Tom said, clearly hoping for Cochise to say that Hal was safe. After being separated from his eldest for months, being told he was dead, finding out he was alive and everything that he went through at the Espheni's hands, his need to protect his child had been kicked into overdrive.

"If your son does not use his abilities when he fights, then he should be safe. The Overlords involved in the experiment however might recognize him if they saw his face." Cochise responded.

"Him not using his powers shouldn't be too hard. And the Overlords are hardly out on the fighting lines." Weaver pointed out, "and there were other people in that lab, ghetto, whatever you want to call it, besides Hal. The odds of them memorizing every single one of their faces is pretty slim."

"Except for Karen. She'd recognize him instantly." Tom reminded the Colonel.

"She hasn't been seen by anyone since you sought her out months ago. But, if she does show up, we will make sure she doesn't learn that he's alive." Weaver assured the former history professor.

"It might not be as simple as you seem to think." Cochise's voice drew the three remaining humans' attention to him. "Tom Mason, you have become well known to the Overlords on this continent due to you leading the human race in the war against them. And with your middle son being one of the harnessed humans helping the rebel skitters and humans working together to fight, your entire family has become recognizable to them."

Tom felt his stomach drop. Ever since the war started, he had done his best to keep his children out of the fight, even Hal despite him being 17 years old. However, as the situation worsened, and Ben was taken and Rebecca was killed, he could no longer make Hal stay on the sidelines. A part of him was proud to see his oldest step up and start to become his own man, but another part of him was terrified that one day his boy wouldn't come home. And when they rescued Ben, he did his best to keep him out of the fight as well. But with the rebel skitters, Hal being controlled by Karen, Lexi and Anne being kidnapped, then all of them being separated, and now all of this, Tom had had enough. Nothing more was going to happen to his kids. Not if he could help it.

"It doesn't matter." Tom murmured, looking down at the table.

Anne put her hand on his shoulder and opened her mouth to say something when he looked over at her, eyes slightly cold and full of determination. Turning his gaze to the others, he said, "It doesn't matter because Hal's not going to be out there at all. It's too dangerous for him to be out there fighting. I'm not going to risk losing him again."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

As soon as he got to his room, Hal kicked off his boots and started to take off the sling still holding his left arm to his chest. Before he could undue the strap, there was a knock at the door. He walked over and opened it to find Maggie on the other side.

"Hey. Is something wrong?" Hal asked, opening the door wider to let her in.

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. Cochise… well, it was a lot, what he told us." Maggie responded as she entered the room, walking past him.

As he closed the door, he said, "I'm alright. I'll probably be more curious about the Jomei and everything else Cochise talked about, and more worried later, but I'm fine right now. Just tired."

Turning to face her, Hal saw that she had her back to him and was looking in the area where his dresser and empty bag was. He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised at that. It wasn't that long ago that she come into his room to find him packing, planning to leave, but he didn't understand why she would think he'd be doing that now. Did he do or say something that made her think that he was going to run? Was she just looking around, or was there something else going on?

"Are you okay?" Hal wondered, walking over to her. When she didn't respond or move from her spot, he put his hand on her shoulder to turn her around and said, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Maggie finally raised her head, revealing her brown eyes full of anger as she replied, "'What's wrong?' Cochise just said you're marked for death and you seem totally okay with it!"

Hal raised his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting that kind of response from her. He didn't say anything to that though. Instead, he waited for her to calm down which she soon did. She actually looked a little embarrassed for her outburst. However, he didn't care that much. Now that he thought about it, he should've seen something like this coming. He knew that Maggie sometimes had a hard time saying or expressing what she was feeling and usually never tried, not wanting to get close to people. So sometimes, it came out in other ways.

"I'm sorry," Maggie apologized. "I just, don't understand how you're so calm about this, even if you are just tired."

"Honestly Maggie, I've known that the Overlords will want to kill me if they find out I'm alive ever since I escaped. It's not news to me. It's partly why I don't want to fight." Hal explained. "And besides, we're all kinda marked for death. We're in a war, remember?"

"This is different and you know it." Maggie told him, starting to get frustrated again.

The dark-haired young man sighed, then said, "I know, but I'm used to it, I've accepted it. And I'd rather it be me than you, or my brothers, or my sister, or my Dad, or anyone else I care about."

"I don't." Maggie mumbled, turning her gaze to the floor. "After thinking you were dead for weeks, I can't do that again Hal. Especially not if it's real."

"Maggie, look at me." Hal waited until her eyes locked onto his before he added, "I'm here. I'm right here."

It wasn't that much of a reassurance. Hal knew that, yet it was the only kind he could really give her. He was here with her now, but he had no idea what was going to happen in the future. Had no idea if they were going to win the war. Had no idea if the Overlords or Karen will find out that he didn't die that night when they destroyed the ghetto. Promising that everything will be okay when he had no idea if it would be wasn't fair to Maggie. It wasn't fair to anyone. He didn't want to do that, especially not to her.

"For now." Maggie said, knowing exactly what he was doing.

"For now. But that's better than not at all." Hal responded.

Maggie stared deeply into his eyes, then nodded in agreement. She moved a little closer to him and whispered, "Yeah, it is."

Hal lowered his head while Maggie tilted hers up, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss, and for the first time in months, Hal felt like everything was okay.


	29. A Fighter at Heart

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! Glad you found it interesting. Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – Hey everyone! Hope you guys are all doing well during this pandemic and are safe! Just wanted to let you guys know that I will now be posting twice a week instead of only once. Updates will now be on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Hope you all like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Hal wasn't exactly sure what to make of everything that came next. It had been almost a week since Cochise had told them what DNA it was that the Espheni had forced into his body and he was still thinking about it. For the longest time, he didn't really care where his new abilities came from or what exactly Karen and the other Overlords did in order to give it to him. He had assumed they did the same thing to him that they did to Lexi, but he wasn't sure and he didn't ask. The only thing he cared about at the time was how to get free and get rid of it.

Now that Anne and Cochise had figured out what exactly the Overlords did and told him, Hal knew that there wasn't anyway that they could fix it. The alien DNA was somehow replicating alongside his own and there was no way to stop it or take it out. He was going to have to deal with it. At least now though, his Dad wasn't pressuring him to use his abilities and Anne wasn't practically demanding to run more tests. Maybe he had been wrong to keep everything a secret. Now that they knew, staying with the 2nd Mass had become much easier.

Though while his family, Maggie and Weaver were more understanding, the other members of the 2nd Mass who didn't know the details, were not. Nobody said anything to his face about it, which Hal was grateful for, but he'd have to be blind to not notice the looks some people sent him. Anger for not helping fight the aliens that attacked their planet and killed millions of people. Fear and distrust because of his powers and the fact that he had been under Karen's control, and every now and then, looks of concern from those Hal considered his friends since they know him better than the others. Due to how quiet they all were about it, Hal wondered if his Dad or Weaver said something to them but he didn't know for sure.

He didn't blame anyone for the looks they gave him, no matter how much he hated it. In fact, he was angry at himself and scared of himself too. He was terrified of accidentally losing control and hurting someone with his powers. He hadn't been lying about that, but he was also terrified of what could happen if Karen or the other Overlords found out he was still alive. Would they try to kill him? Or would they try and capture him? If it was just a regular Overlord, they would probably just kill him. If it was Karen, well, he'd rather be killed actually.

And he was angry because ever since the war started, he wanted to be involved in the fight. He wanted to destroy the aliens who attacked their planet, killed his Mom, kidnapped his little brother and the list only grew as the war continued. But more than that, he hated sitting on the sidelines and feeling useless, and that's exactly what he was doing and feeling. Despite having his reasons, good ones, ones that his Dad agreed with, he felt like he should be doing something, anything, to help.

"Hey." Hal looked to his right to find Maggie coming towards him with a smile on her face.

Smiling as well, he said, "Hey. What's up?"

"Heading out on patrol with Tector. Wanting to see how you're doing, and to say goodbye." Maggie answered as she stood beside him.

"I appreciate that, but I'm fine. I do kinda wish I was going with you though." Hal replied, looking down and grabbing her hand that was hanging loosely beside his.

"I wish you were too." Maggie told him, gripping his hand tightly in hers. She wasn't at all surprised by what he said. He hadn't mentioned anything to her before but she knew how much he hated not being able to be of use in the war. She had known that little fact for years.

Taking a step closer to him, Maggie asked, "Why don't you talk to your Dad? I know you said you didn't want to be fighting because you don't want to risk using your powers and your Dad agrees, but you could probably still do some patrols. Hardly anything happens, they're actually kinda dull."

"I know. I just don't want to take any unnecessary risks, and I don't think my Dad does either." Hal responded to her suggestion, leaving out that he actually thought he could be okay with that. But he had noticed that his Dad seemed to be overprotective over him lately. He doubted he would let him go out on patrol. A part of him was a little annoyed about it, but the other part of him actually felt happy his Dad was acting this way. He had a hard time remembering if his Dad ever did get overprotective of him.

"Well, think about it. I'll see you later, okay?" Maggie told him. Hal nodded and after a quick kiss, he watched her walk away with a small smile on his face.

It had only been six days since that night when they kissed and they still hadn't really talked about it, but it was like all those months of being separated, those two weeks of barely talking before that, and the last several weeks of giving each other space had never happened. It was as though they were a normal couple again, or at least, as normal as a couple could get while fighting aliens. They were taking things slow though, which he was okay with that. Sure, Maggie knew everything, mostly everything, that he had done during those months Karen held him prisoner and what had been done to him but he couldn't help but feel that one day she'd wake up one day and be disgusted with him. He wondered if that was how Maggie felt when she told him about her past.

Brushing the thoughts away, Hal looked around the courtyard from his spot in front of the building he was leaning against. The place was bustling with activity, more than usual because once again, they were gearing up for another attack on the aliens. With each successful attack they launched, they received word from Cochise about more Espheni coming into the area planning to attack them. Or, they would attack so fast and suddenly that no one saw it coming, or both. Since they had already been attacked, bad enough that part of their barrier was destroyed, they needed to strike against nearby enemies before they could get to them.

As he examined the people around him, Hal's eyes quickly focused on one person in particular who was also standing off to the side, practically invisible. Lexi. Not at all liking the nervous expression on his little sister's face, he started making his way towards her.

She quickly saw him approach and with a smile, she greeted him, "Hi Hal. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. How are you?" Hal questioned as he came to stand in front of her.

"I'm… worried." Lexi answered, taking her eyes off of him and turning them to the crowd.

"About what? The attack?" Hal wondered, watching her worriedly.

"Yes. I don't like it when they go fight the Espheni. The Espheni are very ruthless and every time they come back, they come back with less fighters than when they left." Lexi explained.

"Well, that's war Lexi. That's how it was even when us humans were fighting against each other. If you want to know more about that though, you should ask Dad about it. But he might never stop talking if you do, just a warning." Hal told her, grinning at the mental image of his sister sitting down in a chair in front of their Dad as he explained all the history of war that he knew.

"But I'm sure they were a lot more merciful than the Espheni are."

Hal frowned and with a slight shake of his head, he said, "Don't be so sure about that."

Lexi's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion, as though she couldn't believe that or understand it. She then opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly slammed it shut as her eyes focused on something behind Hal. He looked over his shoulder and saw Nico, one of the fighters in Pope's crew, glaring at them. Shooting the man a glare of his own, Hal turned back to his sister, threw his arm around her and said, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"You didn't need to do that, but thanks." Lexi said quietly as she let him lead her away from the crowds.

"Some people just need to grow up." Hal muttered, still annoyed at how some of the 2nd Mass members were acting. He didn't mind when they did it to him, but he didn't like them acting that way to his only sister.

"It's understandable for them to be distrustful of us Hal. I have Espheni DNA that has given me powers and has made me age faster than I should be. And you also have alien DNA that gives you powers and had been controlled by Karen with the use of a probe." Lexi reminded him as they ended up by the small pond at the edge of the camp.

"Yeah, I know but," Hal suddenly stopped mid-sentence. He never told Lexi about being controlled by Karen and he highly doubted Anne or any of their shared family members would've told her about it. It was possible that she heard if from someone else, but she called it a probe, not an eye-bug. Everyone in the 2nd Mass called it an eye-bug, or eye-worm, or just a bug. He only had one memory of someone calling it a probe.

"How do you know about that?" Hal questioned. Lexi had stopped walking when he did and raised her head to face him, but suddenly looked very nervous at his question.

"When Mom and I were with Karen, there were times we'd talk, just the two of us. She was trying to get me to side with her and the Espheni. She even went so far as to say that she was going to be my Mom. I told her I wanted to stay with my family and she said that we will be a family. That's when she told me about you, about what she did. She said that once the 2nd Mass was taken care of, she'd have you join us." Lexi explained.

"Yeah, that's not unsettling at all." Hal remarked quietly before he asked, "Do you know if she was ever planning on taking the probe out of me?"

"I think so. She did mention something about it needing to be gone so you will be able to handle what she had planned next for you. And that once that was done, you'd be with her and the aliens of your own free will." The youngest Mason child revealed to the oldest one.

Hal didn't really know what to say to that. A lot of what Lexi said was new information to him, but some wasn't. He didn't know what Karen had been planning to do with Lexi. He had just thought that Anne and Lexi were being used as bait for his Dad but considering what had been done to his sister's DNA, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Karen wanted her to be on their side. And he already knew that Karen wanted him to join them too. However he didn't know though that Karen had apparently been planning on changing his own DNA back when he still had the eye-bug in him.

"So, what she did to me a few months ago, that had been her plan all along." Hal mumbled, looking down at the ground.

"Yeah, I think so." Lexi confirmed sadly, as though she felt bad for him. When Hal didn't say anything, she put her small and petite hand on his shoulder and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just confused, like I kind of always am when it comes to Karen." Hal answered.

"How does she confuse you?" Lexi questioned, sitting down on a nearby bench.

"It's complicated." Hal tried to brush off the question, sitting down beside her.

"Why?" Lexi pressed on, either not realizing that her older brother didn't want to talk about it or simply didn't care. Figuring that she wasn't going to drop it, Hal decided to tell her.

"Back before we left Boston, not long after the Espheni invaded, Karen and I were together. This was before she harnessed, obviously. I think that's why she still thinks that we can be together even though I don't love her."

"What's confusing about that? I mean, she's clearly delusional, but how does that confuse you?" Lexi asked.

"Because, because I still care about her, sort of." At Lexi's shocked expression, Hal rushed to explain.

"I mean, I care about the person she used to be. She wasn't always like this. The aliens and harness messed with her head. The person she used to be didn't deserve any of this."

Lexi was quiet for a moment, thinking over his words carefully before saying, "So, you are confused because even though she's now an enemy, you still care about her because you used to be a couple."

"Yeah, pretty much." Hal agreed, then added, "And when I see that she still seems to care about me, I can't help but think that maybe the old her is still in there somewhere, and that she can be saved."

"How did her experimenting on you tell you she still cares?" Lexi questioned, trying to understand but completely failing.

"This is where it gets really confusing, for me anyways," Hal warned her before he continued, "She would come and check on me when they doing their, experiments. She never stopped it and kept insisting that I'd soon see it as a gift, but she seemed to hate seeing how much it hurt. There were even times she'd try to comfort me.

"After my first escape attempt, when the Overlord and skitters were," Hal paused, the word 'torture' stuck in his throat, then decided to just skip it, "Karen walked in and basically freaked out. From the looks of it, she didn't know what happened at all. Even when they told her, she made them stop and brought me back to my cell. She was really worried about how badly I was hurt. Or at least, she appeared to be. Karen can be very manipulative and I have no idea if she was trying to trick me into thinking she cared or if she actually did."

Lexi pondered what he told her for a minute or two, then said, "Sounds like it was both. After all, if she didn't care in some way, she wouldn't care that much about getting you on her side."

"True. Unless she's a psychopath who enjoys tormenting and confusing people." Hal somewhat joked.

"It's possible." Lexi joked back with a smile. Then, her face turned serious as she asked, "Does it really matter though?"

"I would like to know if it's possible that she could be saved." Hal answered, clasping his hands together in front of him.

"I don't think it is." Lexi said quietly.

"I don't either." Hal agreed. Lexi then reached over and laid one of her hands over his.

"I'm sorry." She told him with a sincere voice, feeling bad for how confused and hurt he seemed to be feeling.

"Thanks." Hal responded.

It was really weird for him that the one person he actually felt comfortable talking with about Karen was his younger, half-sister. He couldn't talk about this with Maggie, not with all the history between them. He couldn't talk to his Dad. He'd never really been able to before the war and that hadn't really changed. He had tried to talk to Weaver, but he wasn't ready and was too nervous that the Colonel would tell his Dad. Of course, he wasn't going to discuss this with Matt either, or with Ben. There had been times where it seemed like he and Ben were getting closer, that they were becoming friends along with being brothers, but they still clashed and Ben had appeared to be avoiding him lately. He didn't blame him though.

Despite how weird it was, Hal found that was glad to have someone to talk to about this. How nice it was to have someone truly listen to him without being distracted by something or be silently filled with anger and trying to keep from exploding. He missed having that and was grateful to have it back.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

As Tom helped pack one of the trucks with the supplies they were taking on the mission they were just about to embark on, he quickly examined his surroundings, wanting to make sure that they were packing everything they needed. The Volm weren't able to be a part of this particular attack. Apparently, they were doing an attack of their own at a different location. While it would be nice to have their allies with them, Tom knew that there were more Espheni than just the ones in their area.

"Hey Tom, can I talk to you for a second?" Tom quickly turned around when he heard someone talking to him and found Maggie coming to a stop five feet from him.

"Yeah sure, but just for a second. We're leaving in two hours." Tom reminded her, then grabbed another bag to put in the trunk.

"It's about Hal." Tom immediately froze and gave her his complete attention.

"Is something wrong? Is he okay?" Tom demanded, suddenly worried about his son.

"Oh no, he's fine. It's nothing like that." Maggie quickly assured him before she started to explain.

"As you and I both know, if there's one thing Hal hates, it's feeling useless, and that's pretty much how he has been feeling lately."

"Yeah, I kinda figured he would be." Tom replied before asking, "What are we supposed to do about it though? We can't let the Espheni know he's here and about his powers and he doesn't want to be in the fight."

"Well, what if he does some patrols? Hardly anything happens on them and he would be doing something productive. After all, he did do some fighting before he joined us." Maggie suggested. Tom lowered his head with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

"And what if the skitters attack him while he's out there and he ends up using his powers or something? It's safer for him here, in Chinatown." Tom told her.

Maggie stared at Tom, taking a minute to understand what he was saying before she said, "I want him safe too Tom, but I also want him to be happy."

Tom knew and understood what Maggie was saying, he really did, but in all honesty, he would rather have Hal safe and unhappy, than in danger and happy. Of course if he could be both, that would be ideal, but with circumstances the way they were, he doubted that would be happening for a while. So the only response he gave was, "I'll think about it."

Maggie's facial expressions didn't betray any thoughts that could be going through her head. Tom couldn't tell at all what she was thinking, but ultimately, she nodded and walked away. As she did, Tom turned back to his task of packing the truck, now wondering what he should od, what he could do that would make Hal feel useful and keep him safe at the same time.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

"You guys be safe, okay?" Hal told his brothers as Matt hugged him tightly.

"We will be." Ben assured him, looking at Hal's face but not meeting his eyes.

"Don't worry," Tom spoke up as he walked over to his sons, "we'll be back before you know it."

"You better." Hal responded with a smile.

Tom returned the smile and wrapped his arms around his oldest. Hal returned the embrace before the parent whispered, "We'll talk when I get back, okay?"

As Hal pulled away, he gave his Dad a confused look but nodded. Tom then ushered Ben and Matt towards the vehicles while Hal walked over to where Anne and Lexi were standing. They had already said their goodbyes to Tom and his youngest sons and Hal had said goodbye to Maggie before seeking out his brothers. So now, he watched them leave Chinatown, wishing he could go with them to keep them safe and praying that they would all come back alive.


	30. Difficult Questions

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To heather mcdaniels** – Thanks for your review! You will find that all out soon! Glad you are still enjoying the story and I hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

The attack went as well as expected, went better than expected which was exactly what they wanted. There weren't even any casualties which was pretty rare, but something they were all grateful for. They were gone for about two days, and by the time they entered the city on their way back to Chinatown, it was nearing midnight.

Ben walked near the back of the group, keeping an eye out for any unfriendly aliens. Most of the soldiers were riding in the trucks, but as there was not enough space for everyone, there were several people walking. He assumed his Dad was up ahead, leading the group back home, probably with Matt which was good. He didn't mind walking alone in the back. It was nice actually, quiet, peaceful. It gave him time to think, and right now, he had a lot to think about. Specifically about Hal.

Despite the time that had passed and the talk he had with his Dad, he still had mixed feelings about Hal killing that harnessed kid. It was getting better, it wasn't as awkward being around him, and as much as his heart went out to the harnessed child that died, Hal was his brother. With every day that passed, with every glance he sent his big brother's way that he wasn't aware of, he became more sure of the fact that his Dad was right. It wasn't Hal's fault or the harnessed kid's. What happened was just a bad situation all around. What actually hurt and confused him more was why he was still struggling with all this. Wasn't his big brother more important to him than someone he never met? And he knew Hal enough to know that his first instinct was to protect. He fights because he is protecting the people he cared about. He would never kill someone, someone innocent, not if he could help it, right? No, of course he wouldn't.

Getting annoyed with himself and his inability to make up his mind, Ben forced himself to think about something else, about the aliens that the Overlords had apparently come from.

He hadn't been in the room with the others when Cochise told them about the Jomei and how the Overlords, Espheni, and skitters all came to be, but his Dad had given him and Matt the rundown later that day. Ever since then, so many questions had been running through his head. How did the Jomei get their powers in the first place? What could they all do? Did the Jomei look like the Overlords do now or did their experiments change their shape? Why were they still trying to get more power? They were already so powerful and had taken so many planets. Why did they keep going? Why did the experiments work on Hal but not the others?

Unfortunately, he had no way of getting answers to any of those questions, unless he wanted to try asking the Overlords. He had a feeling they wouldn't tell him though. He supposed if he really wanted to know, he could ask the rebel skitters but they probably wouldn't know all the answers and they wouldn't really understand why he wanted to know. True, a lot of those questions weren't really important and knowing the answers probably didn't really matter but it was fun to think about. He had grown up reading and watching so many books and shows about people with powers, it was hard and yet cool to think it was actually possible, even though he himself actually had super strength and was fighting against aliens.

"Ben, there you are." The blonde looked up to find his younger brother heading his way.

"Hey Matt, what's up?" Ben asked as Matt started walking alongside him.

"I wanted to talk to you, before we get back to Chinatown." Matt told him, his serious tone causing Ben to raise his eyebrows.

"Okay. About what?" Ben wondered.

"About Hal." Matt answered, staring up at his older brother who turned his head to look straight ahead to avoid his gaze.

"What about Hal?" The teenager asked, though he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going.

"Why have you been avoiding him?" Matt questioned, still watching his older brother.

"What makes you think I'm avoiding him?" Ben then asked, not wanting to talk about this at all, especially not with his little brother. When Matt however, gave him a who-do-you-think-you're-fooling, kind of look, he sighed and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well I do." Matt told him. Ben may have thought he was being subtle about it, but Matt could easily see that Ben did not seem to want to be around Hal. And though he never said anything, he knew that Hal could see it too and Matt could tell it was upsetting his oldest brother.

Ben didn't say anything, hoping that if he stayed silent then Matt would either get the hint and drop the subject or he'd get so frustrated with not getting a response from him that he'd leave. Matt didn't do any of that though. Instead, he thought for a moment, then quietly asked, "Is it about that harnessed kid? The one that Hal…"

The older blonde was glad that Matt didn't finish that sentence. He didn't want to hear it again and apparently, neither did Matt. Still hoping he could get out of this situation, Ben repeated himself, "Matt, I really don't want to talk about this."

"Hal can tell you know. He knows you're avoiding him and he knows why." Matt informed him, causing Ben to flinch. He had hoped that Hal wouldn't notice at all. After all, his older brother was basically avoiding everyone ever since the truth about his 'powers' came out. It wasn't that hard to avoid someone who was also avoiding people. He was surprised that Hal was actually able to figure out what he was doing and knew the reason. Then again, Hal was always good at reading people.

"It's complicated." Ben finally responded with a quiet voice, lowering his head to look down at the road. This time, it was Matt who stayed quiet, waiting for Ben to continue which he finally did.

"I know Hal was injured and wasn't thinking clearly, and that that harnessed kid probably would've hurt him, but that kid didn't deserve to die. It wasn't his fault."

"No one said it was, not even Hal. He knows that the kid was being controlled. That's why he feels so guilty about it even though it was self defense. It's obvious if you actually spend time with him." Matt told him, rather harshly which surprised Ben.

Ben looked over at Matt and said, "Hal and I have hardly ever spent time together before. Why is it such a big deal now?"

"Because before it was just because you two are different. You had different likes, dislikes, hobbies, friends. But even then, you and Hal were still there for each other when needed. Now, it's a big deal because you're showing more sympathy to someone you never met over your own brother." Matt answered, getting angrier with every word that came out of his mouth.

"It's not like that Matt." Ben insisted even though deep down, he knew that his brother was somewhat right.

"Isn't it?" Matt questioned, "I get what you're saying, I do, but it was self defense. Even I've killed in defense."

Ben flinched again at Matt's words. He remembered that day when he was out with Hal, Matt and their Dad looking for Anne and Lexi. He remembered Matt shooting that man to keep him from hurting Hal, remembered him dying. They all knew, especially him and Hal, how Matt struggled with that the days following. His little brother should never have been in that situation. In his opinion, no one should be any of the situations like the ones they were all in at the moment.

"And if you think about it, we're all guilty of that." Matt then added.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, not really sure what Matt was saying.

"Well, the skitters are harnessed, aren't they? So they are being forced to do what the Overlords want, just like that harnessed kid, yet we don't think twice about killing them if they get in our way. You and Jimmy would actually go out with the sole purpose of killing them. So why are you being so hard on Hal?" Matt argued, then stared at him, waiting for answer. Ben wasn't really sure if he had one to give though.

Ben thought long and hard about Matt's question. It didn't take long for him to think of an answer but he didn't know if he should give it. He wasn't sure if it was right or if it was just a theory. And if it was right, then he definitely didn't want to tell Matt. His baby brother was upset enough as it was. His answer would only make it worse and he didn't want that. But if he didn't give some kind of answer, he'd be upset by that too.

"I don't really know Matt. The whole thing is just really complicated." Ben finally said after nearly five minutes of silence. To his surprise, Matt scoffed.

"No, it's not. You guys just either make it things more complicated than it needs to be, or you just say that because you don't want to talk about it." Matt told him with a bitter tone before adding, "I'm a stupid kid anymore."

"I never said you were Matt." Ben replied, a little shocked that Matt would say that.

"You act like it. All of you guys do. Just because I'm younger than you doesn't mean I don't know what's going on." Matt explained, clearly having been feeling this way for a while.

"I'm sorry that we made you feel that way, I didn't mean to." Ben apologized sincerely.

Matt seemed to deflate at his words and said, "I know you didn't."

He looked over at his younger brother and saw that while he had relaxed somewhat, he still seemed upset. So he added, "Matt, I don't really know how I feel about, everything, yet. And I just need some space until I do."

The younger Mason nodded in understanding before he said, "I get that, but I think you and Hal should talk. It'd probably help both you."

"Maybe." Ben responded, thinking over Matt's words as the turned onto the street that led straight to the gates of Chinatown. Before he could respond however, he heard a whistle and an engine overhead. They both looked up to see a beamer flying above them and then watched in shock and horror as it started firing at the convoy.


	31. Into the Nightmare

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To Heather McDaniels** – Thanks for your review! You will find out in this chapter! Hope you like it!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! That won't be happening for a little while and you will find out why in this chapter! Hope you like it!

**AN** – So, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I wasn't really in the best headspace when writing this one and I kind of just wanted to finish it so I could move onto the next chapter. I hope you guys still like it though.

**Enjoy!**

As the bombs started dropping, several skitters and Mechs appeared and started firing. Everyone took off running as they pulled out their guns and started shooting at the aliens. Tom fired a few shots but then took off in search of Ben and Matt. He thought he had seen them near the back of the convoy, but he wasn't sure. He had to find them. Had to make sure they were okay and get them to safety.

"Ben! Matt!" Tom shouted as he ran through the chaos.

"We're over here!" Ben called out as he and Matt slowly made their way towards him while still trying to be covered, protected from the shooting Mechs and beamers.

The second they reached their Dad, he pulled them forward, toward the gates of Chinatown and away from the fight. Two Mechs however came to stand in the way. The path to their camp was blocked off. The aliens were circling them into an area, trapping them. Tom then decided to take his kids somewhere they had cover from the bombardment but Ben froze in his tracks when he recognized someone near the Mechs.

"Dad!" Ben shouted, needing to be loud in order to be heard over the sound of the fight, "It's Karen!"

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

The minute Hal heard the sound of the explosions from Mechs firing and guns going off, he started running to the gate. Knowing that his Dad, brothers, and Maggie along with the rest of the 2nd Mass soldiers were supposed to return tonight, he stayed close by so he could see them as soon as they arrived, but the camp erupted in chaos when everyone else heard the noise. People were running in all different directions, like always when the aliens attacked them. And like always, Hal ignored them and went looking for Weaver. If anyone knew what was going on, it would be him.

Seeing him up on top of the gate, Hal yelled out, "What's going on?"

"They're being attacked out there!" Weaver shouted his reply, giving him only a glance before turning his attention back to the fight that was going on outside the walls.

Hal examined the fight, looking for any sign of his Dad, brothers, or Maggie. He couldn't see them at all throughout the chaos, he could hardly see anything. It was so dark outside, there wasn't even a moon out. The only light came from Mechs and the fires they started. Hal wished the attack was happening during the day just so he could see what was going on. Finally though, he spotted something. It wasn't one of his brothers, or his Dad, or Maggie. It was someone he had hoped he would never see again.

"Karen." Hal whispered with a shocked tone. A jolt of fear ran through his body. What was she doing here? Did she somehow find out that he was alive?

Suddenly realizing that she was closing in on the group, Hal jumped over the barrier, landed on his feet and took off running towards them. He didn't think about what he would do or what could happen, but he didn't really care. He wasn't going to let Karen hurt his family.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom tried to lead his sons for cover, but another Mech showed up in the path, also blocking Maggie who had been heading in the same direction. He wasn't sure what all happened after that, but the next thing he knew was that he was up back against the wall of one of the buildings with Ben, Matt and Maggie. They were surrounded by skitters and the two Mechs that had blocked them, but they didn't attack them at all. At first, he was confused by it, but then he saw Karen, who had been spotted by Ben only a minute earlier, walking towards them.

"I'm sorry about this Tom, I truly am, but you and your group have become too much of a problem." Karen told him, actually managing to sound like she truly sorry. The Mechs then lifted their guns and were about to fire at them but then a voice shouted out over the chaos.

"Stop Karen." Everyone turned their heads and saw Hal coming through the smoke caused by all the fires, pointing a handgun right at Karen's head with both hands, his sling gone.

"Hal, you're alive." Karen exclaimed, sounding truly surprised and actually glad to see that he was alive.

Ignoring her happiness though as it was actually making him a little sick to his stomach, he put on his best poker face and ordered, "Stop the Mechs, Karen. Leave them alone."

"Hal, I'm sorry, but they are going to keep coming at us. I'm just supposed to let that happen?" Karen replied, taking a cautious step closer to him. There was sort of pleading undertone in her voice, as though she was really trying to get him to look at this from her perspective. Hal couldn't really help but do that. While he knew that Karen 'cared' about him, enough to listen to him, he couldn't get her to stop attacking his family and group. That's when an idea came into his mind.

"How about we make a deal?" Hal asked, keeping his eyes on Karen. If he looked over at his family or Maggie, then he'd lose his resolve and he couldn't risk that right now.

"What kind of deal?" Karen wondered, tilting her head to the side slightly, clearly curious as to what Hal was going to say.

"You and your army stand down and leave the rest of the 2nd Mass alone, and I will go with you." Hal offered, staring right into her cold eyes.

"Hal, no!" Hal heard his Dad immediately shout. He could also hear the others start to protest but one of the Mechs moved its arm, threatening to shoot them. Karen ignored them and asked, "Interesting offer Hal, but what's to stop me from finishing this attack then just knocking you out and dragging you back?"

For a few seconds, Hal didn't move, trying to think of what he could do to make Karen leave them alone. He then moved the gun and pointed it at his own head, barrel right against his temple. Karen flinched at the sight as Tom yelled out, "Hal!"

"Surprising move, but you wouldn't pull the trigger." Karen replied with a confident air, ignoring the others with them again. Hal however, quickly called her bluff.

"You and I both know I will." He told her.

She immediately tensed up and the confident air disappeared. Seeing that, Hal asked, "So, what's it going to be?"

"You won't fight? No escape attempts?" Karen questioned the terms of the deal.

"None, as long as you leave the 2nd Mass alone." Hal confirmed.

Karen thought for a moment, then said, "If they attack us again, we will defend ourselves and retaliate."

Hal had a feeling she would bring that up. After all, he couldn't seriously expect the aliens to leave a group of their enemies alone if that group was going to keep attacking them, but he had a way around that. "But until then, you pretend they don't exist."

"Alright. You have a deal Hal Mason." Karen told him.

Immediately Hal heard his family and Maggie start to protest but before he could assure them that everything would be okay, the Mech fired a blue shot at them. They all fell back to the ground and Hal took a step towards them.

"Don't worry, they're just stunned." Karen assured him then waited until he looked back over at her before she said, "Now, drop the gun."

Hal looked back at the unconscious figures of his Dad, Ben, Matt and Maggie. He wanted to run to them, but he knew he couldn't. Turning his attention back to Karen, he saw that she was watching him, still waiting for him to lower the gun he was still holding up to his head. Slowly, dropped his arm and let go of the gun which fell to the ground.

Karen then held out her hand for him to take, which he very reluctantly did. Once she had his hand, she smiled and said, "Let's go."


	32. Impasse

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**To Heather McDaniels** – Thanks for your review! Well, what did you expect Hal to do? And I'd say sorry, but, I'm not really, and I am sorry about that lol. Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it! I hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

It was a pounding pain in his head that pulled Tom back into awareness. It was like someone was hitting his skull with a hammer. He couldn't remember why, but at the moment he didn't care. He just wanted the pain to stop. He tried to go back to sleep, but then he felt a hand land on his shoulder that started to shake him.

"Tom? Tom, wake up." Tom slowly peeled his eyes open and saw a blurry face staring down at him, a little too close for comfort. Once his vision cleared, he saw who it was.

"Anthony?" The former cop nodded, then reached out and helped Tom sit up.

"You okay?" Anthony asked as he examined the bump on the back of the former history professor's head, which had him wincing.

"What happened?" Tom wondered, then he looked around and saw Ben, Matt and Maggie also getting up with help from the other soldiers. Then he remembered the attack, Karen and Hal. Snapping his head back to Anthony, he shouted, "Hal! Where's Hal?"

"He's gone." Anthony replied before he asked, "Tom, what happened?"

Too shocked and horrified to speak, Maggie was the one to say, "Karen. She took him."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal sat in silence in the empty, dark room. He was in the left corner, his back up against one wall while his shoulder was pressed against the other one. There were two lights in the room on either side, but they emitted only a dim, blue glow. He might as well be outside in the middle of the night. There was only one door, which he would see if he turned his head to the right, but instead, he kept his eyes on his hands resting between his legs and his stomach. More specifically, on the tight, metal, manacles on his wrists, keeping his hands restrained together.

A skitter had put them on the minute they entered the spaceship that Karen had waiting outside of the city. Then he was led to this room and locked in. That was almost an hour ago. He was starting to wonder how long it would take for them to get to wherever they were going. He had never been in a spaceship before, that he could remember anyways, so he had no idea how fast they moved, but he thought they traveled pretty fast. He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of approaching footsteps. Then he heard the door unlock and open, revealing Karen standing on the other side.

"Come with me." She told him.

"To where?" Hal asked, not moving at all.

She moved to the side so she wasn't blocking the doorway and said, "I'll show you."

Knowing that if he wanted answers, he'd have to go with her, he stood up and walked out of the room. Karen then shut the door and gestured for him to follow her. As they walked down the hall, Hal lifted his hands and asked, "Are these really necessary?"

"I don't think so, but better safe then sorry, especially if we meet up with any of the other Overlords." Karen answered, giving him an apologetic look.

"How many other Overlords are a part of this anyways?" Hal wondered. He knew there were at least two others before, but he had no idea if there were any others.

"Just a few." Karen replied.

Before Hal could ask any more questions, they reached a door. Karen opened it, then said, "Here we are."

They were in a giant room that was empty except for a single skitter standing by the door. There was strange machinery along the walls with small red lights littered across it. There were also those creepy, weird, thick, black wires dangling from the ceiling. Hal hardly paid attention to that because at the opposite end of the room, the wall was made entirely of windows. Through it, he could see planet earth, or part of it. Slowly, Karen led him to it.

"Why are you showing me earth?" Hal questioned, keeping his eyes on the planet once they got to the window.

"I'm trying to get you to understand Hal." Karen responded.

Turning to face her, he asked, "Understand what?"

"Understand that you can't stop this. You and the Volm may try to defeat us, but earth will soon be ours." Karen tried to explain. "But you don't have to suffer the same fate that the rest of the humans will."

"Save it Karen." He said as he pulled away from her, "I may be here, and I may have promised that I'm not going to fight or try to escape, but I'm not going to help you."

Though she clearly looked disappointed, she replied, "Don't be so sure."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

About two hours later, at a secluded Espheni base hidden in a forest, Karen stood in a large room with an Overlord, one of the ones who were in charge of the Jomei experiment. He had arrived not long after Karen got there. She was glad that she arrived and got Hal secured before the Overlord showed up. If he had beaten her here and saw Hal, he might have killed him instantly without listening to her reasons. At it was, he still did want to kill the new hybrid but at least now Karen had time to change his mind.

_He has stated he will not join us,_ the Overlord in front of her said in her head.

_For now. He will change his mind,_ Karen tried to assure him.

_That is what you said last time. It would have been better if he had been disposed of when the others were,_ the alien replied.

_And if he had, then we would never have learned that our experiments worked,_ Karen pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

Stooping down a little, the Overlord asked, _What good does that do us if he is going to use it against us instead of for us like he should be?_

_Just give me some time with him. I can get him to realize he belongs with us,_ Karen persuaded with the Overlord. She may have been one of the ones in charge, but she was still part human and the other Overlords did not always fully trust her, especially when it came her desire to have Hal join her. And she was not the only one running the experiment with the Jomei DNA. If the others decided Hal was too much of a risk, they could have him killed and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

_It is extremely unlikely that he will change is mind, and without the use of a harness or probe, we cannot make him._

Before Karen could argue, the Overlord added, _However, we do not need his cooperation for him to be useful to us._


	33. The Next Attempt

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**To Heather McDaniels** – Thanks for your review! A part of me wants to answer, but I'm feeling very evil right now, so I won't lol. Sorry. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Hal was beyond bored. He wasn't sure how long he had been in his new cell, or how long it had been since he left Chinatown with Karen, but he doubted it was very long, despite how it felt. Time always seemed to pass slower when you had nothing to do. He had tried to keep track of the time at the beginning, but quickly realized it was pointless. It wasn't like he was waiting for something. There were only two things that were going to happen. He'd probably be experimented on again and Karen would definitely try to convince him to join her. And after that, he'd probably be killed. He was already supposed to be dead. The only reason he was still alive was because he got lucky. He doubted the Overlords would let him get that lucky again.

Along with nothing to do, it was way too quiet. The last time he was the aliens' prisoner, it was hardly ever quiet. He was constantly hearing people and skitters walking down the halls, other prisoners screaming and at times, he could hear them talking to themselves. When he was first brought there, he tried to talk to them, but it didn't last very long. They either died during the experiments, lost their minds, or, like him, started to become too exhausted, too despondent and in too much pain to talk. Back then, he would wish for silence. Now, he wished for noise. He even started moving his arm, so that the chain that was around his wrist which was connected to the back wall of the cell would _clank_, just to make sure that his ears were still working. He quickly grew bored of that though and stopped.

The only way Hal was able to somewhat keep track of the time was by the arrival of the food the aliens gave him. From what he could tell, they fed him twice a day, roughly. The food wasn't the greatest, a plastic bottle of water and a handful of granola bars, a can of beans or something like that. One time it was a few slices of bread. He wondered if that's what the skitters fed the harnessed kids. He never really thought about it before, but the Espheni would have to be feeding them something so they didn't starve to death. He then started wondering what the skitters ate. They had to eat something too, right?

Suddenly, Hal heard the door being unlocked before it swung open. Karen quickly came in, followed by a harnessed girl who looked to be around 12-years-old. He also saw a skitter but it didn't come into the cell. Instead, it stood outside, blocking the entrance as though it was worried that Hal would try to escape. It was even holding one of those sticks that worked like a painful taser. He hated those things.

"How are you doing Hal?" Karen asked sincerely.

"Getting pretty bored actually. Any chance I could get a magazine or a TV or something?" Hal replied a little sarcastically.

Smirking, Karen said, "Sorry, but we're fresh out."

"That sucks." He mumbled, looking off to the side in faux disappointment. After only a couple of seconds, he turned back to look at her and asked, "What do you want Karen?"

Karen dropped the smirk and, with a serious tone, she said, "We need to take a sample."

When he saw her turn her head turn in the harnessed girl's direction, Hal looked over at the young girl and spotted a syringe in her hand and he instinctively tensed up. They were the reason he hated needles and here they wanted to stick him with one again. He wanted to say no, wanted to fight and run but he knew he couldn't. He made a deal for the 2nd Mass's safety and he wasn't going to break it. So he rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm.

Karen's expression changed to one of pity. Shaking her head, she said, "Not a blood sample."

It only took a second for Hal to realize what she wanted. As he did, the harnessed girl walked over to him. She reached out, gripped his shoulder and pushed him back away from the wall. The girl did it all rather gently which was a bit of a surprise. Last time, the harnessed kids were not gentle at all. Despite how easy it could've been to pull away, he didn't. He moved willingly, and braced himself for the stab of the needle in his back.

With a pained grunt through his clenched teeth, Hal endured the pain of the needle going into his spine before it was pulled out. As the girl walked away, he instinctively lifted his hand to cover the injection site. Turning his gaze back to Karen, he asked, "What did you need that sample for?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that." Karen replied. She then walked over and crouched down beside him.

"Hal, I need you to listen to me." She told him. Normally Hal probably would've told her to leave or something, but she sounded completely serious, like whatever she waned to say was important. So he gave her his full attention.

"You know that I'm not the only one who was in charge of that ghetto and what all went on there. There were two other Overlords."

"I know." Hal confirmed her statement.

"Hal, they are not happy that you're still alive. They think I should've killed you the minute I saw you. They are willing to look past it though, in return for your help." Karen revealed, causing Hal's expression to turn into a glare.

"I already told you. I am not going to help any of you, and there's nothing you can do to change my mind." Hal reminded her with a harsh tone.

"If you don't Hal, the other Overlords will try to force you, and I won't be able to protect you." Karen tried to reason with him.

Staring straight into her eyes, he said, "I don't care."

Karen lowered her head, clearly upset and disappointed. Hal didn't care about that either though. There was no way he was going to help the aliens who invaded his planet. His ex-girlfriend was crazy to think otherwise. He didn't even know why she kept trying. He had made it clear that he wasn't going to change his mind. Why she seemed convinced that she could get him on her side was beyond him.

Without another word, Karen stood up and walked out of the room. The harnessed girl went with her but the skitter stayed. He figured that the skitter would follow after the other two but it didn't move. It wasn't until the door to the cell was shut that the alien started coming towards him. It then lifted the stick and struck him across the face.

Hal grunted in pain as the force of the blow had him falling onto his stomach. Blood started running down from his nose, but he wasn't sure if it was broken or not. He put his hands on the ground, trying to get back up, but then the skitter stabbed the electric end of the weapon into his back and he screamed.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

"Cochise please. There has to be something, some way to find Hal." Tom practically begged the Volm, coming to stand in front of him while Weaver stood by the door.

It had been three full days since Karen attacked the returning convoy and kidnapped Hal, and Tom felt like he was going to lose his mind. There was no way to contact the Volm so he had to wait until Cochise came to see them. He wasted no time in telling him what all happened and asking for help to find his son. Already Ben and Deni went to the rebel skitters to see if they could help out. They said they would look into it but couldn't promise anything. He had been hoping that the Volm might be able to help out more.

"Unfortunately Tom Mason, the Espheni have been preparing large offenses against us Volm. We do not have the capabilities to search every ghetto and Espheni base for your son." Cochise told him with a regretful tone.

As much as he hated it, Tom expected an answer like that. While he didn't know anything about the Espheni launching attacks on the aliens that were helping the humans, he knew it was a lot to ask. They couldn't put the war on hold and use valuable resources to find one person. It was actually pretty selfish of him to even ask but this was his son they were talking about. He had to do something, even if it was just asking.

"Can you at least keep your eyes open for him?" Tom wondered.

"Of course." Cochise quickly agreed. It wasn't much, but at least it was something.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Outside of the building where Tom and Cochise were meeting were Ben and Maggie. Anne, Lexi and Matt would've been there but Matt was on a patrol and Anne had an emergency to take care of in the infirmary. Lexi, as she had been learning to help out in the infirmary, went with her.

"Do you think that Cochise will know anything?" Ben asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Probably not. He didn't know anything about what happened so he didn't think to look. Hopefully he will be able to help out though." Maggie replied, pacing in front of him. When Ben stayed silent, Maggie looked over at him and saw a confused and thoughtful look on his face.

"What is it?" Maggie asked, coming to stand beside him.

"When Hal showed up that night, he put his gun to his head. Karen said he wouldn't do it but he said that she knew he would. What do you think he meant?" Ben wondered.

Luckily for Maggie, he wasn't looking at her so he didn't see the terrified expression on her face or the way her entire body tensed up. Since Hal had told her what he tried to do when Karen held him prisoner, she knew what he had meant but as far as she knew, he didn't tell anyone else. Despite the fact she thought that Hal should've told his Dad and brothers, and how worried she was that he might try it again now that he was back with Karen, she didn't say anything. She promised Hal that she wouldn't tell and she wasn't going to break it. However, she needed to give Ben some kind of answer.

"Maybe she was talking about what Hal did back in Charleston, when he was under the control of the eyebug." Maggie suggested.

"Yeah, maybe." Ben responded, but he didn't really sound like he believed her.

Deciding the best thing to do was to change the subject, Maggie said, "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that we find him and get him out of there, and we will find him."

Ben looked over at her, he nodded and with a more confident tone, he said, "Yeah, we will."


	34. Start of a Collapse

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**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter too!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Ben, and everyone, will find out about that later. Well, Tom wants to make sure lol. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Hal awoke to a burning pain his back and the sound of the door opening. He forced his eyes open and bit back a groan as he looked to see who had come into his cell. He had figured it would either be a skitter coming to torture him again or Karen to try and get him to side with her. And while they were there, the harnessed girl from before was also with them. He didn't expect that.

"How are you feeling?" Karen asked with concern. Hal resisted the urge to roll his eyes but couldn't stop the sarcasm from his voice as he said, "Just peachy, thanks for asking."

Karen frowned but didn't respond to that statement. She simply turned to the harnessed girl, then tilted her head in Hal's direction. Before he could even begin to wonder what was going on, the girl came over to him and he saw the needle in her hand. They wanted another sample. He couldn't believe it but at that moment, he wished he was back in the infirmary with Anne. At least she would tell him what she was doing and would do her best not to hurt him. Karen and the Espheni wouldn't do that.

Without a word, Hal moved to give the harnessed girl access to the back of his neck and braced himself for the stab of the needle. To his confusion, once she came to stand beside him, she stayed still. He looked back at Karen and asked, "What's going on?"

"I need you to use your powers." Karen told him, causing Hal to raise his eyebrows.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing major. We just need to confirm something." The blonde said as though it was a simple and casual thing she was asking for.

"Why?" Hal questioned, forcing his tone to sound a little angry to hide his fear.

"I can't tell you that."

Hal let out a frustrated sigh, then said, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I can't really just use my powers whenever I want. And I can't control them."

"Have you ever really tried?" Karen wondered. Hal didn't say anything to that. The only two times he purposely tried to use his powers was when the 2nd Mass attacked that factory, when everyone finally learned his secret, and when he brought down the beamer that was attacking Chinatown. He wasn't going to tell Karen that though. He had a feeling she would not be that happy about it.

When he stayed silent, Karen said, "It doesn't have to be anything big. In fact, I'd prefer it not to be. Just something simple."

"Like what?" Hal asked. He didn't even know what he all could do, besides the telekinesis and something with electricity. Did Karen somehow know what all he could do, or did she just know about what she had seen him do.

The human Overlord grinned as though she thought that him asking meant that he was agreeing to what she wanted, then said, "I just want you to keep this in the air."

She held out a bottle of water that he didn't see she was carrying. He stared at her silently for a few seconds before asking, "And if I lose control?"

"Well, then," Karen paused, looking over at the skitter standing by the door. All the skitter had to do was lift the electric stick in its hands for Hal to get the message.

Knowing that he'd get the same treatment as he got last night if he refused, he held out his own hand for the bottle. He didn't want to cooperate. In fact, he actually wanted to lose control and try to escape but he knew he couldn't. If he did, he'd be breaking his deal with Karen and she would attack the 2nd Mass. Already he was surprised that Karen hadn't tried to threaten them to get him to actually side with her. Maybe she'll try that later but still, Hal didn't want to push his luck.

Karen's smile widened as she walked over to him and handed him the bottle of water. Once it was in his hand, Hal closed his eyes and focused on it, imagining it floating in the air but nothing happened. He took a deep breath and shifted a little to get more comfortable, then winced as the burn on his back reminded him of its presence. He opened his eyes and saw the two humans and the skitter staring at him. The skitter had actually come closer to him and was holding the weapon in both of its hands as though it was getting ready to hit him with it. His heart started pounding in fear but he did his best to control it and tried again. This time, he felt his blood begin to burn like it did the other times and the bottle started to float in the air, hovering over his hand.

It dropped though when he felt a sharp stabbing pain in the back of his neck, breaking his concentration. Because he wasn't expecting it, he wasn't able to keep from groaning or wincing. Within seconds, the needle was pulled out of his neck and the harnessed girl walked over to the door. Karen and the skitter however stayed in their spot. Hal knew where this was going.

"Have you thought about what I said last night?" Karen wondered, coming to kneel down beside him.

"No, because I didn't need to. I already gave you my answer and it's not going to change. I'm not going to join you." Hal told her with a cold and emotionless tone.

Karen looked disappointed, but she didn't say anything else. She just stood up and out of the room. Now it was just him and the skitter. He expected the skitter to come over and start beating him, however, it didn't move. Instead, two other skitters entered the small cell and came over to him. One had something in its' hand and used it to unlock the chain around Hal's wrist. They then each grabbed one of his arms and yanked him to his feet. The second he was upright, they pulled him towards the door and down the hall.

It was the first time since he was brought here that he was out of his cell. He tried to look around, to examine his surroundings so he could figure out where he was, but there were no windows of any kind and there was nothing in the hallway besides the occasional door, and they only passed two of those. When they got to the third door, they brought him over to it, opened it, and pulled him inside.

Hal barely had any time to look around before he was brought over to a metal slab near the middle of the room. The skitters threw him onto it, and held him down. Before Hal could even react to what was going on, he felt something slithering over his legs, arms and chest. Looking down, he saw they were thick black wires, like the ones in the room with the window in the spaceship. The wires tied him down, making it nearly impossible to move.

Lying still, the young man looked around now that he wasn't being pushed and pulled by the aliens. The room was dark except a yellowish glow that seemed to come from somewhere along the walls but he couldn't see where. There were also other black wires dangling along the walls but not that many. And that was about all he could see before the skitters were back on either side of him and were lowering something over his face, right onto his eyes. He tried to move his head out of the way, but it was no use. Once it was on his face, everything went black.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

_As the darkness cleared, Hal found himself standing in an abandoned street. It was night, and extremely dark. There was no moon or stars. It must've been a cloudy night for him to not see anything in the sky. He looked around, wondering where he was, but he didn't recognize anything and he had no idea what was going on. Before he could figure it out, a scream broke through the silence, and not just any scream. It was Matt's scream. Without a second thought, he took off running in search of his brother._

_Hal rushed down the street in the direction where the scream had come from but he had no idea where exactly Matt was. Luckily, he soon spotted him as he rounded a corner, but the sight wasn't a good one. Matt, along with Ben, Lexi, their Dad, Maggie and Anne were running towards him and away from a Mech. Seeing the alien robot pointing its gun right at them, Hal shouted, "Watch out!"_

_It was too late. The Mech was already firing and one by one, he watched them all fall to the ground._

_ "__No!" He screamed as he reached his baby brother's side, as he was the closest to him. He fell to his knees and picked up the limp figure, cradling him in his arms. Matt's lifeless eyes stared up at him and Hal felt his heart shatter into pieces as he looked over at the other people he loved, only to see that they were also not moving. He then looked for the Mech that had killed them but it was gone. Hal turned his gaze back to Matt before he brought him to his chest, hugging him tightly, then started sobbing. Then everything faded into nothing._

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

_Hal suddenly found himself back on the same street he was on only minutes earlier. He didn't see Maggie or any of his family around. He couldn't even feel the tears on his cheeks from when he cried over his brother's dead body. He was beyond confused. What was going on? Where was he, and where was his family?_

_Then, he heard Matt's scream and again, he took off running towards the sound. He wasn't sure what was happening but he couldn't let anything happen to his family. Not if he could stop it._

_Turning the same corner he had before, he was greeted by the exact same sight. The people he loved running for their lives as they were gunned down in front of him. Like last time, he shouted for them to watch out, but it was still too late. The Mech fired and hit each of them with a single, deadly shot. And like last time, he was helpless to stop it. He ran towards them but before he could get there, everything turned black._

_And Hal watched it happen again, and again, and again._

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal awoke with a jolt as he felt something being pulled off of his eyes. Blinking widely, he looked around, trying to understand what was going on. He wasn't in the street anymore. He was back in the room the skitters had put him in before he ended up on the abandoned street and was still tired down to the rock-like table with the black wires. Was it all a dream?

A skitter suddenly appeared at his side but Hal paid him no attention. His mind was racing and his heart was pounding in panic. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Though he was now seeing that none of that actually happened, that his family and Maggie weren't dead, that is was all just a cruel form of torture, it seemed so real. The image of his siblings' dead bodies, his Dad's and Anne's dead bodies, Maggie's dead body wouldn't leave his minded. He doubted they would anytime soon.

The skitter beside him put one of its' clawed hands on top of his chest while the other ended up on his head, running through his hair. If Hal didn't know any better, he would've thought the alien was trying to comfort him. Most likely the skitter was just trying to keep him calm so he would lose control of his abilities and lash out. When he looked up at it however, he could've sworn he saw sympathy in its' eyes.

Another skitter showed up only seconds later and when it did, the other skitter moved its' hands to start pushing away the wires. It only needed to push a little before they started moving by themselves. Soon Hal was free but he didn't move, still in too much shock to make any kind of movement. The skitters then grabbed his arms, pulled him up and dragged him back to his cell.


	35. New Process

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**To****Hodophile-Sanhiller** \- Thanks for your review! You'll find out! Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Hal was exhausted. He knew he could easily fall asleep and his body desperately wanted him to, but he forced himself to stay awake. If he fell asleep, he knew what nightmares would plague him. He'd see his Dad, brothers, sister and Maggie die in front of him and he had watched it happen enough times. Even now those images wouldn't stop playing over and over in his mind. At least when he was awake, he could try to distract himself, from his thoughts and his stomach.

There was a plate of food, an actual sandwich this time, sitting a foot away from him with a bottle of water but he didn't touch it. He knew he should eat, he hadn't for a while, but he felt nauseated by the sight. He was sure if he ate it, he would just throw up. So, he ignored it. Maybe he'd feel better later and eat then. For now, he just tried to think of something else.

Right now, he was trying to remember what like was like before the aliens came. It was actually harder than he thought it would be. The war had only been going on for three years, not even a quarter of his lifetime but it had consumed his life. How could it not? Every day it was fight or die, there was no escaping it. He couldn't remember what it was like not preparing for a fight, not fearing that a day would come when another one of the people he loved died. Couldn't even remember what it was like to go to sleep and not worry what he would wake up to.

The sound of approaching footsteps had him tensing up and turning his head to face the door. He had relearned rather quickly to listen for the sound of skitters coming for him. The strange thing was, that he didn't hear the sound of human footsteps. That meant that there wasn't a harnessed kid or Karen with them. Maybe the skitters were just doing a patrol or something.

He heard the door unlock, too clumsily to be a human doing it, then it opened. Two skitters came into his cell but he could see a third one standing by the door. The two in the room came right over to him, unchained his wrist, grabbed his arms, pulled him up and dragged him out the door.

"You don't have to drag me you know. I can walk." Hal protested as he tried to get his feet under him so he could actually walk alongside the skitters. The skitters however didn't seem to listen to him as they didn't slow down enough to give him that chance.

Soon they brought him to a room that he didn't recognize. The only light came from a bare lightbulb that hung from the ceiling in the center of the room which illuminated something strange. Underneath the light, there was a large wooden board standing vertical. It was a tilted table and beside it looked to be a machine of some kind. Probably to turn it back into a horizontal position. Hal had never seen something like it before. It looked very strange to him. That's when he noticed the leather restraints attacked to the board. Realizing what was about to happen, he started fighting against the skitters' hold on him, but they were too strong, and they easily dragged him towards the table and strapped his wrists and ankles to the board.

"What's going on?" Hal couldn't help but ask even though he doubted he would get an answer. To his surprise however, a voice said, "Just relax Hal."

He looked over to the door in time to see her enter the room. Staring at her, he demanded, "What's going on Karen?"

"The Jomei DNA doesn't present itself in your system unless it senses adrenaline." Karen told him, still standing by the door. It seemed like she wanted to distance herself from the situation even though she was in charge of it.

"Why do you care about that?" Hal asked, struggling against the restraints.

"We are running low on our supply of the DNA." Karen answered, still standing in her spot.

"I thought you guys abandoned that whole thing."

"We had, but that was before we realized it actually did work. You proved it." Karen revealed, which only heightened Hal's confusion.

"Then why did they try to kill me when they killed the others?" Hal wondered. If their experiment had indeed worked on him, which it seemed to, it didn't make sense for them to kill him.

"The reason that the other Overlords viewed the experiment as a failure Hal was because of the mental side affects." Karen said, finally walking over to him. Once she was by his side, she continued, "After that one escape attempt, when you tried to kill yourself, they believed that you were also affected by it. Unfortunately, I wasn't there at the time. If I was, I would've stopped them."

"And how many people did you experiment on to get me? Are you all really willing to spend that much time and kill that many people to get more hybrids?" Hal asked. Karen looked like she was about to respond but before she could, he pointed out, "And even if you do, you still won't be able to control them."

"That's what we're trying to figure out Hal." Karen responded.

Hal stared at her, confused by what she meant. Was she talking about finding out a way to create more hybrids successfully, or was she talking about finding a way to control them? Either one wasn't good. If they had more hybrids, especially under their control, they could easily end the war. And if the Overlords were able to find away to control him, then they could use him against his family. He was about to respond, but stopped when he felt the board he was strapped to, jerk, and start to tilt back until it, and him, were horizontal.

He tried not to panic, beginning to become terrified about what was happening when he noticed two harnessed kids. One was the same girl that he had seen the last couple of times, and the other was a boy, around 13 years of age. They were standing by a table across from him but he couldn't see what they were doing. Then, they turned around and in both of their hands, he saw syringes. The one in the boy's hands was a lot bigger and from Hal could tell, it looked filled with a liquid already. Hal immediately began pulling against the restraints keeping him trapped in place.

"Don't struggle Hal, you'll just make it worse." Karen told him, reaching over to lay a hand on his shoulder. After giving it a gentle squeeze, she let go and walked away.

Despite what she told him, Hal couldn't help but struggle. It was instinct. The harnessed kids however didn't care. They walked over to him, one on each side, and without a warning, the boy plunged his syringe right into Hal's chest and he screamed in agony.

He had no idea what was in the needle, but whatever it was, the effect was immediate. His heart started racing uncontrollably, his blood started boiling in his body and he couldn't breathe. He had no idea what was happening and he tried to calm down enough to try and figure out what was going on but he felt like he having a panic attack. However, he was dimly aware of the feeling of another needle being stabbed into the back of his neck.

"Easy, it's okay, it's over." Hal heard Karen say somewhere on his left. As he felt a small hand rest on his arm, he heard her tell him, "Just relax."

"I can't." He was barely able to get out as his body continued to shake and his heart continued to pound in his chest.

"It's okay Hal. It will be okay." Karen said. Hal wasn't sure if he believed her, but before he could say anything about it, his exhaustion from the whole thing claimed him.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom walked through the cafeteria area with a mug of coffee in his hands, trying to find a good seat where he could keep on eye on the gates. Earlier that day, Ben had left with Deni to see if the rebel skitters were back and if they had any news on Hal. Cochise hadn't come back to Chinatown yet since he had heard about Hal being taken by Karen, so the rebel skitters were their only possible source of information about his missing son. He wanted to stay in line of sight of the gates so he would know immediately when Ben returned.

Picking a spot and about to sit down, he saw Matt sitting only two tables away, watching the gates himself. Not wanting him to be alone, he walked over to him.

"You okay Matt?" Tom asked, sitting down at the table Matt was at, on the chair right beside him.

Matt looked up, suddenly realizing that his Dad was there. He was so lost in thought that he hadn't even heard him coming. He immediately asked, "Has there been anything from the rebel skitters yet?"

"Not yet. Ben and Deni left a little while ago to check. I'm sure we'll find out soon." Tom answered reassuringly. However, a worried and anxious look came upon Matt's face and he looked back down at the table.

Tom sighed, wondering how he should comfort his youngest son, but he had been so distant since Hal had been taken. It was as bad as he when they were told that Hal was dead. And because he was so busy finding proof that his oldest child was still alive, he wasn't really there for him. Guilt stabbed him in the stomach at the realization. He wasn't there for his children properly when their mother died, wasn't there for Hal when Karen was taken, wasn't there for Ben when Jimmy died, wasn't there for Hal when he was paralyzed. He couldn't keep making the same mistake. Before he could decide on what to say or do, both Tom and Matt noticed the gates opening and Ben and Deni coming into the camp.

"Dad!" Ben shouted as he ran ahead of Deni towards them.

"Ben? What is it? Did they find something?" Tom asked, standing up and circling around the table to meet his middle son. Matt also stood up and came to stand beside his Dad.

"They know where Hal is." Ben told him. For the first time since Hal was taken, Tom felt relief, but the terrified look on Ben's face immediately had him worried again.

Staring up at his father, Ben said, "Dad, we've got to go get him, now."


	36. Planning

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**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Ben found out from the rebel skitters, the skitter that somewhat tried to comfort Hal in chapter 34 was a rebel skitter. And I will say that Ben doesn't know details but he knows that Hal's life is in danger. Hope you like this chapter!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! It's coming! Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – Hey, so this chapter is a little on the short side, but next chapter should be longer. Hope you all like it!

**Enjoy!**

Karen walked down the hall towards the room where Hal was. It had only been a few hours since she had the harnessed children force him to use his powers so that they could get a sample of the Jomei DNA and she knew he would probably be resting but she wanted to check on him. She knew the procedure was exhausting and dangerous and she needed to make sure he was alright. She knew that Hal didn't understand when she tried to explain that she was trying to help him and was trying to help him see the truth, but soon he'd learn. It was only a matter of time until he sided with the Espheni like she had. Then they'd be together again.

As she walked into the room, Karen found something she wasn't expecting. There were four skitters in the room which weren't there before. Two were by the door guarding it, while the other two stood by an Overlord that was also in the room which was surprising and unsettling. After he had arrived and questioned Hal's use to them, he left to take care of his own base. She had no idea that he had come back. Since the other Overlords normally let her know when they arrived, she knew that something was up and the only human Overlord had a feeling she knew what it was. He didn't trust her to be objective when it came to Hal. Karen then looked over at Hal and saw that he was indeed asleep like she thought he would be, but the harnessed children that she had helping her, were doing something beside him.

As Karen walked over to the other Overlord, she asked, _What are you doing?_

_We are preparing to take more DNA samples,_ the Overlord answered, not even bothering to look over at her.

_We just took some a few hours ago,_ Karen said, confused by the Espheni alien's actions.

_We need more,_ the Overlord informed her, still keeping his gaze on the harnessed children, the skitters and Hal.

Karen looked over at Hal and saw that he was now awake and was trying to figure out what was going on. When his gaze landed on her, she could see him silently asking what was happening but she didn't say anything, only shaking her head slightly, warning him not to fight or do anything stupid. She knew that she had done some, despicable things, in order to try and break down the resistance Hal had against them, but it was nothing compared to what she knew the Overlord beside her would do if and when he decided that Hal was no longer needed. It was best for him to let her try to handle it, though she had no idea if she could do anything. If the Overlord decided that she was too biased, he could try and take over the whole thing. Then she wouldn't be able to do anything to keep him safe. And if that happened, the other Overlords would use it as an excuse to take away her power and control. None of them were happy that she took over when the Overlord she served was killed and were always looking for a reason to discredit her.

_He needs time to recover. His body cannot keep with this at this speed_, Karen tried again to get the Overlord to see sense.

Finally, the Overlord turned his head to look at her and said, _The only need we have for him is to extract the Jomei DNA. Unless of course you have convinced him to stand with us._

_I'm working on it,_ Karen told him, trying to sound confident though she knew that she wasn't successful.

_Then his overall health does not concern me,_ the Overlord replied, turning his attention back to what was happening. Karen felt her throat tighten, but there was nothing she could do except stand by the side and watch.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Once Ben and Deni had arrived and Ben told Tom that the rebel skitters knew where Hal was, he quickly gathered Weaver, Anne and Maggie and told them the news. Matt, having been with Tom when Ben arrived, tagged along as well. After a bit of arguing, it was decided that Tom would go with his other two sons, Maggie, and Anne to rescue Hal. Tom didn't really want anyone to come with him as he didn't want to put anyone in danger, but they wouldn't hear of it. Matt and Ben wanted to rescue their brother, Maggie her boyfriend, at least he thought they were dating, and Anne insisted she came in case Hal was injured. Weaver, though clearly wanted to help, agreed to stay behind and take care of the 2nd Mass.

As soon as that was all figured out, Weaver pulled out a map of the United States and laid it on the table they were circling.

"Now, how far away is this base?" Tom asked, moving his gaze up from the map to Ben.

"It's in the middle of the woods, over here." Ben answered, reaching over to point at a spot on the map across from him.

"That's pretty far away." Weaver observed. It had to be thousands of miles away. It was near the Canadian border.

"Probably what Karen wanted, to make it harder for us to find and rescue him." Tom assumed, looking over at Weaver before glancing back down at the map. He already knew that rescuing Hal was going to be difficult, but the distance alone was going to add another problem.

"It will take us days to get there and back if we take a truck. It would also be easy for the Espheni to attack us while we traveled." Anne pointed out.

"Especially since this base will most likely be well guarded." Tom added, running a hand over his face before gripping his chin.

"You really think that Karen would have a lot of skitters and Mechs guarding just one person instead of fighting us and the Volm?" Weaver questioned.

"Well, we have no idea what else is at this base. It could be more than just a prison. Plus, she's lost him once already, I don't think she'd risk losing him again." Tom explained. The others didn't argue with that, knowing he was probably right on both points.

"And we still don't know what all Hal can do. I'm pretty sure the Overlords won't want him out and using those powers against them." The doctor said.

"So how do we do this?" Maggie questioned.

"What if we take one of the Volm ships? It would be a lot faster and make it harder for Karen or any skitters to follow us." Matt suggested, turning his head to face his Dad.

"That's a good idea. I'll ask Cochise tomorrow when he arrives." Tom replied, giving Matt a small smile. However, he then said, "But in case he can't help, we need another plan."

"If we can take care of most of the skitters guarding the place, then our way home should be clear." Ben told them. After all, if most, or all of the skitters were killed then there wouldn't be any to follow them.

"Unless of course there are more Espheni factories on the way." Weaver responded. Cochise had been helping them find out where the alien bases were and at times, assisting their attacks on them, but that didn't mean they knew where every single base was. Especially not in that area as they had never gone up that far north.

Tom frowned, not having thought of that, but before he could think of a solution, a new voice said, "I can take care of them."

Everyone turned to look at the door and saw that Lexi had joined them and Tom immediately said, "No."

"You guys are all going. Why can't I?" Lexi asked, coming over to the table.

"It's too dangerous Lexi." Anne insisted.

"But not for Matt?" Lexi questioned, gesturing to the smaller person beside her. Tom and Anne didn't say anything to that as she did have a point. Seeing that, Lexi added, "I have powers too, just like Hal. I can use them to help us find and save him."

"Lexi," Anne started, trying to find a way convince her daughter to stay safe in Chinatown, but Lexi quickly cut her off.

"He's my family too. I want to help."

Tom and Anne stared at each other. He knew that his girlfriend didn't want their daughter anywhere near that way and Tom completely understood. Despite how she appeared, she was only about a year old and she was Anne's only child. She had already lost her son, she didn't want to lose her daughter either. On the other hand though, Lexi was Hal's sister and had every right to help rescue him. Plus, she had powers and Espheni DNA which would be extremely helpful in their endeavour, and they all knew it.

Their decision silently made, Tom looked back over at his only daughter and said, "Okay."


	37. What Happened to Your Soul

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**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! No problem! Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** \- Chapter title taken from a line in the song _I Just Wanna Know_ by NF. Hope you guys like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Every muscle, every cell of Hal's body ached and throbbed. He wished he could sleep, if only to get a break from the pain and the situation he found himself in. Unfortunately, the Overlord didn't seem to care. He was sure that if the alien had his way, he'd never stop drugging him, forcing him to apparently start using his powers before they stabbed him and took out whatever fluid was in his spine. He supposed he had Karen to thank for the small amounts of rest he did get. There were times when he'd wake up and see both Karen and the Overlord in the room staring at each other. They never said a word, which wasn't surprising since the aliens don't talk unless it's through a harnessed kid, but Hal was sure they were talking about him in their own way of talking.

Hearing the door open, Hal kept his eyes shut and tried to keep his breathing even. He was hoping if whoever entered the room thought he was still asleep, they'd leave him alone. And then maybe he'd actually be able to fall back asleep. He knew it wasn't going to work though when he heard the footsteps coming towards him and felt a small hand rest on his shoulder. Karen's hand.

"I know you're awake. It's just me, don't worry." She told him, her voice soft and gentle. Hal was tempted to ignore her, to keep pretending to be asleep, but he didn't think that would go over very well. So he turned his head in her direction and opened his eyes.

Karen smiled and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"How do you think?" Hal shot back, unable to keep silent with a question like that.

His ex looked a little taken aback at his response, but then nodded and said, "Sorry. That was a stupid question."

Hal wasn't going to argue with that.

"Would you like some water?" Karen wondered, holding up a plastic water bottle. Hal immediately nodded.

The soldier had no idea how long he had been in this room but it felt like days. During all that time, he had had nothing to eat or drink. And since he didn't eat or drink when he had the chance, before he was brought here, he was beyond hungry and thirsty. One of the harnessed kids had hooked him up to an IV a while ago, and he figured it was to keep him from dying of dehydration and malnourishment but it wasn't the same as actually eating real food or drinking water.

Karen helped him lift his head and held the bottle to his lips. Hal quickly downed several gulps before he said, "That's enough."

She nodded, then took the bottle away and put it off to the side, then lowered his head back down on the table.

"How long are you going to keep doing this?" Hal asked when Karen turned her attention back to him.

"If it was up to me, we'd stop now. The other Overlord however, he wants more Jomei DNA so he can give it to those loyal to us." Karen explained, which only ended up confusing Hal.

"I thought you said it doesn't work on people who are harnessed or have eye-bugs." Hal responded.

"It doesn't, but over the last several months, we have gained some loyal human followers."

"People who you've brainwashed or blackmailed you mean." Hal said. Matt had told him about the camp he was in, how they tried to get all the kids to believe the Espheni were good and were helping the humans.

"Oh Hal, I wish you would try and see the truth." Karen told him, sounding upset and disappointed.

"Wait a minute. I thought you said you were trying to find a way to give it to people who are harnessed, and who have eye-bugs. That's why you needed more of the DNA."

"We can't do both?" Karen asked with a slight smirk. Hal simply stared at her. He had a feeling that there was something else going on, something Karen wasn't telling him and he was sure it wasn't something good.

"How many hybrids do you need?" Hal inquired, hoping if he kept her talking then he'd get more answers.

"Not many. But as I'm sure you can remember, the DNA doesn't bond with everyone. There were over 200 humans we had involved the experiment. And you are the only one it worked on." Karen revealed, to Hal's surprise. He had no idea they had experimented on so many people.

"And if you do find a way for the Jomei DNA to work on the harnessed kids, or the people you implanted with eye-bugs? What then?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." Hal replied, giving her a pointed look. Karen feigned confusion for another few seconds before she dropped it and looked down at the ground.

"Hal, you are too valuable to the Espheni to lose, especially if you are still determined to stand against us. It's either join us, remain our prisoner, or die. Right now, I am able to convince the other Overlords that you are of use to us, but eventually, your use will run out. Hal, I don't want anything to happen to you. I want you with to be with me." Karen told him.

His expression hardening into a glare, Hal said, "You might as well kill me now. I am never going to help you, never going to join you. Even if you are able to put another bug in me, it won't work. I fought against it before, and I'll do it again."

"You say that now, but soon you'll learn, just like I did." Karen responded, sounding so sure of herself that Hal actually felt a little sick. Well, sicker than he already felt.

"The Karen I knew, the Karen I loved would never have sided with the Espheni. You're not her. She died the night she was taken by the skitters. And I will never join you." Hal insisted. Karen looked like she wanted to argue, but at that moment, the door to the room opened again.

They looked over and saw the two harnessed kids, four skitters and the Overlord enter the room. Hal and Karen both stiffened up at the sight though Hal wasn't sure why she was nervous. She wasn't the one who was about to be stabbed with needles, again. The two harnessed kids came over to Hal while Karen went over to the Overlord. Hal's gaze shifted back and forth from the Overlords and the kids, not sure which one was more threatening to him.

He wasn't sure what exactly Karen and the fish-head were discussing, but he knew what was about to happen simply by the look on the blonde's face. She looked like she was pitying him, and like she felt guilty. If she was capable of feeling that that is. Knowing there wasn't anything he could do, Hal prepared himself for what was going to happen next.

The harnessed boy came with the large syringe and without hesitation, stabbed it into Hal's chest. Hal gasped in pain and felt the familiar burn ran from his heart throughout his body. Something was different this time though. The burn felt like actual fire. It was like his blood was gasoline and someone lit a match.

Above him, the lights started flickering and he could hear something off to the side shaking. He could even feel the table shaking under him. A tiny voice in the back of his head told him that that was bad, but it was drowned out by the ever-growing pain that was in every inch of his body and he screamed.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom sat quietly in the Volm spaceship. Anne and Lexi sat on his left while Ben, Matt and Maggie sat on his right. Cochise had come along but only to fly the ship. While Tom had no doubt that the alien would help them rescue Hal if he asked, he was the only one capable of flying the ship. He would be staying behind while they went and got Hal.

That was the only part of the plan that was set in stone. Besides a rough outline of what they thought was the best way to go about this, it was all up in the air. They had no idea what exactly they were walking into. Tom could only hope that this mission would be a success, that they would find and save Hal and get out safely. He had no idea what he would do if they failed.

Suddenly, the ship started shaking a little before it landed on the ground and Cochise announced, "We are here."

After waiting for a few seconds, just to make sure the ship was going to stay still, they all stood up, their guns and rifles in hand and medical bag slung over Anne's shoulder. Cochise came over to them, pressed a button and the door in front of them opened.

"The warehouse is about half a mile that way." Cochise told them, pointing through the trees straight ahead.

"Okay. We'll be back soon." Tom replied.

"Good luck Tom Mason." Cochise said, and with that, they took off to where Hal was being held.


	38. Rescued

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**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it! You are about to find out. Hope you like this chapter!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Tom is going to do just that. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Tom stared up at the four-story warehouse in the middle of the woods. It was modified with Espheni technology which wasn't that surprising. It actually reminded Tom a bit of the Tower in Boston, just smaller. Near the building on the ground was an Espheni spaceship, as the roof was too small to hold it, and it didn't look like it was being used at the moment. That meant that all the aliens were most likely inside the warehouse. That would make rescuing Hal a little more difficult, but as long as everything went according to plan, then everything will be fine.

"So we're all clear on the plan?" Tom asked, looking back over at Anne, Ben, Matt, Lexi and Maggie.

As soon as they reached the warehouse and saw what they were up against, they immediately began planning. Tom, Anne, Matt, Maggie and Lexi would create a distraction big enough that would draw pretty much every skitter to them while Ben snuck inside to find Hal and get him out. Seeing the spaceship, it was quickly decided they would try to destroy it. It would easily get the skitters' attention and it would keep them from escaping. Tom didn't really like the idea of sending Ben in alone, but if they were going to have all the aliens attacking them, they needed were going to need more fighters.

Seeing them all nod, Tom said, "Okay, let's do this."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Ben walked through the warehouse corridors quietly, doing his best to make sure he wasn't found. So far he hadn't come across any skitters or fish-heads or harnessed kids which was good. It meant that the distraction was working. He could still hear the gunfire as he assumed more skitters kept showing up. He hoped though that everyone else was okay. The last thing they needed was them getting overwhelmed. And he knew that if something happened to them during this mission, Hal would blame himself for the rest of his life.

"Hal?" Ben quietly called out, not wanting to give away his position in case there were any skitters around as he entered the hall on the fourth floor. There was no answer, which meant that Ben was going to have to check every single room, like he did on the other three floors.

Unfortunately, there were a lot more doors than there were on the other floors, which meant more rooms to check. Ben started looking through the nearest rooms, but then he noticed a door in the middle of the hall. It was the only one that was locked. He double-checked to make sure that there were no skitters or harnessed kids or Overlords around, then headed over to it. Easily breaking the lock with his bare hand, he opened the door and looked inside.

Ben felt his blood freeze in his body at what he found. His oldest brother was lying on a wooden table, strapped down to be kept in place, and was shaking, as though he was having a seizure or something. Even from this distance, Ben could see how pale Hal was, how awful he looked.

"Hal!" Ben shouted as he ran to his brother's side, "Oh my G*d."

Slowly, Hal's head turned in his direction and his eyes opened. It took another few seconds for him to focus on the figure beside him, but when he did, he whispered in a weak voice, "Ben?"

"Yeah, it's me." Ben told him, giving him a small smile before he reached over his brother to undo the leather restraint around that wrist. He then, as gently as possible, pulled out the IV that was sticking out of Hal's arm.

"No, you shouldn't be here." Hal protested, his voice getting stronger. Ben hoped that meant that Hal was regaining his strength. Getting out would be a lot easier and faster if he didn't have to carry him.

"Too late for that Hal. We're getting you out of here." Ben responded, moving down to undo the straps on Hal's ankles.

"We?"

Ben simply nodded, focused on the task at hand. Hal however didn't seem to care about that and said, "No Ben, you need to go."

"I'm not leaving you here." Ben replied harshly, looking up at his big brother. He had no idea where Hal got the energy to argue with him. He looked like he shouldn't even be aware of what was going on. He was beyond pale, looked thinner even though he was only gone for about a week, had a bruise across his cheek and was sweating. The shaking had subsided to slight tremors which Ben hoped was a good thing, but Hal honestly looked like he should've passed out long ago.

Suddenly, Hal's eyes seemed to catch on something behind him before they widened and he yelled, "Ben!"

The blonde turned around to find an Overlord stooping down to enter the room. When it saw him, it drew out its knife and came towards him. Ben was about to turn around to grab his gun and shoot it, but before he could, the alien's head loudly snapped to the side, then fell forward on the ground. Moving back to face Hal, he saw that the dark-haired man was now somewhat sitting upright and had his hand held out in the alien's direction. He then flopped back down on the table.

"That was close." Ben commented. He quickly took off the last strap that remained around Hal's other wrist and said, "Come on, let's go. Can you walk?"

Hal nodded and struggled to sit up. Ben reached over and helped him. Once he was fully sitting up, he swung his legs over and stood, only for his knees to buckle under him. Ben quickly caught him and wrapped an arm around his brother's waist as he said, "It's okay, I got you."

Before they could even take a step forward, another person showed up in the doorway staring at them. Karen. Ben waited for her to stay something, to do something, but she just stood there silently. The formerly harnessed teen could feel Hal still shaking beside him, though now he wondered if Karen's presence had made it worse.

"Hello Ben. I must say this isn't as surprising as it should be." Karen said, then fell quiet as she looked back and forth from Hal to Ben before adding, "I'm afraid I can't let you go."

Ben cocked the gun and said, "We're not asking for permission."

For about a minute, no one moved, with the except of Hal who was still shaking a little. Karen then threw out her hand and Ben started shooting, letting go of his brother in the process. The bullets hit the human Overlord squarely in the chest and she fell backwards. Ben lowered the gun and stared, slightly in shock that that had just happened. It was almost, anticlimactic with how easy it was to kill the girl who had messed with him and his family so much. Turning back to Hal, he saw that he was sitting on the floor, leaning against the table.

"Hal?" Ben asked worriedly as he crouched down beside him. Hal slowly looked up at him, but he looked so lost. The middle Mason son pushed that away through and started to help his brother back up to his feet.

When Hal didn't make a move to help him, Ben said, "We need to go. Now."

Hal nodded, but made no effort to help. Seeing that he was still shaking and his breathing had quickened, Ben started looking around the room to see if he could find out what the aliens did to his brother. Spying a table off to the side, Ben let go of Hal and walked over to it.

He found numerous needles lying on it and glass vials, most of which were empty. Drugs, that would explain a lot. Looking over the labels on the vials, Ben saw that they were all the same and grabbed one of the ones that hadn't been used. Hopefully Anne would know what it was and would be help to help Hal.

Slipping it into his pocket, Ben went back over to Hal, helped him up to his feet and started leading him out of the building.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom stood back and watched as the spaceship burned in front of them. They didn't bring any bombs or explosives but using the guns that had been modified with Volm technology had not only rendered the ship useless, the sparks helped it catch fire. It easily caught the Espheni's attention and they quickly took care of them. As worried as Tom was that they would get overwhelmed, there actually weren't that many skitters or Mechs. Once they dealt with them, they waited for Ben to show back up with Hal. It took longer than Tom would've thought and he was beginning to think he should go after them, but then he finally spotted them exiting the building and the sight made Tom's heart start racing. Ben was practically carrying Hal. Something was wrong.

"Hal!" Tom shouted as he raced over to his oldest two sons. Maggie, Matt and Lexi rushed after him while Anne quickly went over to where she stashed her medical bag, not wanting it to get damaged in the fight.

"Is he okay?" Maggie asked as she reached them while Tom, having reached them first, ducked under Hal's free arm so it was around his shoulder and then wrapped his own arm around Hal's waist.

"I don't know." Ben answered Maggie's question, still moving forward though a lot faster now that his Dad was helping him.

Lexi, Maggie and Matt hovered around them anxiously as they made their way towards Anne, who had grabbed her bag, but was now waiting for them to catch up. She could tell that Hal was in bad shape and wanted to check him over as soon as possible, but she decided it could wait until they got Hal to Volm spaceship. It would also be safer too. While they were all confident they had dealt with all the skitters and Mechs, there was still a chance they might've missed one or two or more that could chase them. The sooner they got out, the better.

However, they only got a couple hundred yards into the forest before Hal suddenly cried out and Tom yelled, "Hal!"

Anne, ahead of the group, turned around in time to see Tom and Ben both lowering Hal to the ground while her daughter, Matt and Maggie surrounded them. Anne ran back over them, gently pushing her way to Hal's side and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I can't, can't," Hal whispered in an urgent yet hoarse voice, his hand coming up to claw at his chest, his entire body shaking. Anne placed to fingers on his neck to check his pulse before she reached into her bag and pulled out a stethoscope. She listened to Hal's heartbeat and a worried expression covered her face.

"His heart's racing." Anne informed the others as she put the stethoscope back in the bag. She then looked back down at the young man and said, "Hal, you need to calm down."

"Can't." Hal croaked out, still scratching at his chest,

"Anne." The doctor looked up at Ben and saw him pull something out from his bag before he handed it to her and said, "I found this in the room he was in. I think they gave it to him."

"What?" Anne murmured to herself as she read the label on the glass vial. Something then clicked her head and she pulled the collar of Hal's shirt down to look at his chest. There, right where his heart was, were several puncture marks, one looking fresher than the others and Anne felt like throwing up.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked, seeing the confused look on his girlfriend's face turn to one of horror.

Anne ignored him, turning her attention back to Hal and demanded, "Hal, look at me. Did they give you this?"

Hal struggled to focus on the vial, but he was eventually able to do so and nodded. Seeing that, Maggie asked, "What is it?"

"Epinephrine." Anne replied as she started rummaging through her bag, looking for something, anything that would slow down Hal's heart rate, then explained, "His heart is beating too fast, we need to slow it down."

"Can't we just wait for him to calm down?" Maggie wondered, not sure if giving Hal more drugs was a good idea.

"He can't calm down. They flooded his body with adrenaline. We need to force it." Anne responded, pulling out a different vial and a syringe.

As she started filling the syringe with whatever drug she had pulled from the medical bag, Tom asked, "Isn't that dangerous?"

Anne lifted her head, looked him straight in the eyes and said with a serious voice, "If we don't Tom, he could literally have a heart attack."

Tom stared at his girlfriend in shock, then lowered his gaze down to his son. He looked terrible. The young man was so pale that his skin almost glowed in the moonlight with the exception of the bruise on his cheek, and there were dark circles under his eyes. The worst thing though was how badly he was shaking. It was clear that Hal couldn't control it, and he looked so terrified. He was completely panicking and was obviously in pain. He knew his son was strong, but he also knew he couldn't take much more of this. He needed help.

"Do it." Tom told her, looking up at her. Anne nodded and grabbed Hal's arm, trying to find a good spot to inject the drug. Hal however, saw the needle and pulled away from her. Tom and Ben grabbed his arms and tried to hold him down while Maggie, Lexi and Matt held down his legs. With them keeping him still, Anne was able to slide the needle into Hal's vein and inject the drug that would help him.

Hal still looked panicked, but he soon started to relax, the tremors slowing down before almost disappearing completely. As his breathing evened and his body became limp, Tom whispered, "Shh, it's okay Hal. It's going to be okay."

Then, his oldest son's eyes slipped shut and he completely passed out.


	39. Pushed Down Deep

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan25** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked the chapter! More Hal scenes are coming up! And yes, Karen is really dead. Hope you like this chapter!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked it! Well, he was more supporting/dragging Hal instead of carrying him, but yeah. Hope you like this chapter!

**WARNING** – Talk of suicide attempt, if it makes you uncomfortable or is a trigger, please don't read. Just realized I never put a warning on the other chapters that had that. If you guys think I should go back and put up warnings on those chapters, just let me know. Also, I usually try to keep all the medical stuff accurate, but as this story is dealing with aliens, alien DNA and superpowers, I've had to make stuff up, so don't expect it to be very accurate with this story. Sorry. Other than that, I hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Anne slowly walked down the short hall in the back of the infirmary building in Chinatown. The minute that they returned, they brought Hal, who was unconscious at the time and still was now, to a private room in the back. Weaver did his best to keep the other citizens of the small community away as they were not really in favour of the rescue mission due to their distrust of Hal, but there was only so much he could do. While Weaver and Tom were able to keep everything relatively under control, they wanted to make sure that Hal was safe from anyone who might do something crazy or stupid. That wasn't what was worrying Anne at the moment though.

Now that they were at a more secure place with medical supplies, Anne and Lourdes ran several tests on Hal to make sure that he was okay. She was still waiting on most of those test results, Kadar was looking at them now, but as far as she could tell, he was treated better than he was the last time he was the Espheni's prisoner. The cause of her concern right now were the scars that Lourdes found. Two slightly jagged but mostly straight lines, one on each of his wrists. There were too precise to be accidental but not precise enough for someone else to inflict it like Hal's other scars. He had done it to himself and there was only one reason someone would cut themselves there that deeply. Hal had tried to kill himself. Now the question that remained was, should she tell Tom? If they were in a world without the invasion, she would have to keep her mouth shut to Tom as Hal was a legal adult, despite what she thought. Now however, she had no idea.

As she approached the group waiting for news about Hal, which consisted of Tom, Ben, Matt, Lexi and Maggie, she knew she had to make up her mind now.

"How is he?" Tom immediately asked as he took a few steps closer to the approaching doctor. Everyone else also came over so that they could hear what was going on.

"He still has a pretty high fever. I've got him on some fluids to bring down his temperature, as well as to hydrate him. He's a bit dehydrated and malnourished. He also has numerous bruises all over his body, but no broken bones, luckily, as well as a few first-degree burns." Anne filled them all in.

"But he's going to be okay, right?" Tom questioned, still clearly worried.

"I'm still waiting for Kadar to get some test results back to me, but I think so." Anne replied, giving him a small but reassuring smile.

"Good." Tom exclaimed, beyond relieved to hear it. Then he saw the smile disappear from his girlfriend's face and a worried expression took its place, causing him to ask, "Then what's wrong?"

"While I was examining him, I found some scars." Anne very hesitantly answered, still wondering if she should even mention it. It was too late now, but she was starting to think she should've waited until Hal woke up and talked to him about it first.

"He has a lot of scars. We already know about them." Tom responded, obviously confused by why she was so nervous.

"These were different." Anne replied. Tom waited for her to explain, but she stayed silent.

When her gaze drifted towards Ben, Lexi and Matt however, he realized what was wrong. He turned to them and said, "Kids, maybe you should,"

"No. We're staying here." Matt cut him off, apparently also realizing what Anne wanted. Ben didn't say anything but he did cross his arms in front of his chest, making it clear that he agreed with his brother. Lexi's posture was less confrontational, but her face was just as determined as Ben's. And though it didn't seem like Anne wanted her to leave, Maggie also came to stand by the other Masons, making it clear she wasn't leaving either.

Knowing that there was no getting rid of them, she said, "He has a scar on both of his wrists, almost a straight line."

"What? How did he get those?" Tom asked with a confused tone.

Anne hesitated again, not sure how to exactly say this, but she steadied herself and revealed, "I've seen scars like that before, on a patient of mine. She had tried to commit suicide."

Immediately it dawned on everyone what she was saying and Tom slowly started shaking his head as he whispered, "Hal wouldn't,"

"Tom, there's not really another explanation for having scars right there." Anne responded sympathetically.

The father brought up his hand to cover his mouth in shock and horror and turned around, unable to look at Anne right now. His eyes fell to his other children and he saw the same kind of expressions on their faces as well, but then he saw Maggie's face. Or, a part of it. She had lowered her head and from what he could see, she looked more nervous and awkward. Turning completely to face her, Tom said, "Maggie?"

"Anne's right." Maggie quietly admitted. She didn't really want to tell them, she still believed Hal should be the one telling them, but since Anne found the scars and told them and she just confirmed it, she knew they were desperate for answers.

"The night when Hal told us what happened when he was in that, experiment camp or whatever you want to call it, and I went after him, I saw the scars and he told me that after he killed the harnessed kid, he woke up in the infirmary. He was there for a little while and then they moved him back to his cell. I guess he had broken a window or something when he first tried to escape and he still had a piece of glass on him." Maggie explained the situation as best she could with the information that Hal had given her.

When everyone stayed silent, the long-haired blonde lifted her head. Staring at Tom straight in the eyes, she added, "He didn't want to end up under Karen's control again."

Though Anne wasn't there when it was discovered that Hal was being controlled by Karen, she had heard about it. Since Hal was the one who helped the aliens kidnap her and Lexi, she knew something was wrong and when they were all reunited, Tom told her what happened. When he spoke of how Hal turned his gun on himself, how they were barely able to keep him from actually killing himself, he looked so haunted. She knew how badly that had affected him, how it probably affected Ben, Matt and Maggie. And as horrible as it was, Hal's decision did make a sort of sense. He wasn't able to stay in control and was a threat to his family. If it meant that they would all be safe, Hal would end his life without hesitation.

Before Anne could think of something to say that would make this situation better, she spotted Dr. Kadar walking over towards them.

"Kadar." Anne said, turning her attention to him. The others did the same.

The scientist quickly reached them, slightly out of breath and said, "I found something."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

10 minutes later, they were all Kadar's lab on the other side of the building, staring up at the x-rays Anne had taken with the machine that Kadar had managed to make. When they first ended up in Chinatown, they hardly had any medical supplies, unlike Charleston, so Kadar spent a lot of time making them from scratch as best he could. It had proved to be quite useful.

"You see this here, and here?" Kadar asked, pointing to the x-rays.

"Yeah." Tom answered for the group, though his confused voice made it clear he didn't know the importance of what he was looking at.

Turning to face them, Kadar said, "Those are internal burns."

"Internal?" Tom questioned. He had never heard of internal burns before, didn't even know it was possible.

"From what I can tell, it looks as though when Hal uses his abilities, the alien DNA raises his core body temperature, that's what causes the fever he gets afterwards. The longer he uses them, the higher his temperature goes. They also seem to be triggered by his fight or flight response. He's in danger or someone he cares about is in danger, adrenaline starts flooding his body and the alien DNA kicks in as a safety measure." Kadar explained.

"So the Overlords pumped him full of epinephrine, which is basically adrenaline, to get him to use his powers." Anne realized, starting to make sense of what the aliens were doing.

With a nod, Kadar said, "That's a reasonable conclusion."

"But why would they do that?" Lexi inquired. She thought that the Espheni would want him dead or under his control. Since neither had happened, what would be the purpose of getting him to use his destructive abilities?

"I have no clue. We'll probably have to ask Hal when he wakes up." The scientist responded.

"What about the internal burns?" Anne questioned, bringing the topic back to Hal's physical condition.

"Well, when he uses his abilities and his body temperature is goes up, I believe it literally burns his body inside, causing the internal burns." Kadar determined.

"Is he going to be okay?" Maggie immediately asked with a worried tone.

"Because of how many times the aliens forced Hal to do this, he will need a lot of rest in order to recover, but yes, I believe he will be okay, this time." Kadar said somewhat reassuringly.

"This time?" Tom said fearfully.

"Well, Mr. Mason, if Hal were to keep using his abilities, especially for long periods of time and a lot in such a short amount of time, his body would internally burn even worse than it is now because they wouldn't have any time to heal. It could kill him."

"I thought that, since he was a hybrid that he'd be okay. Lexi's a hybrid and she's okay with using her abilities." Matt pointed out, looking over at his sister as he did so.

"Well technically, she has different DNA than Hal does. And, they started changing her into a hybrid while Anne was still pregnant. Her body was still forming. It adapted to sustain the changes. Hal, being an adult, wasn't able to do that. His body is just physically incompatible with the DNA."

"What if he doesn't use his powers?" Ben wondered.

"From what it looks like, when he's not using his powers, the DNA goes into a sort of, passive mode. It's almost like it turns invisible, which is probably why his own body hasn't tried fighting or rejecting it. I don't know if there could be any long-term problems from it, but I think it's safe to assume that if he doesn't use his powers, he should be fine." Kadar answered as best he could with limited amount of information he had.

"And if he uses his powers only once in a while, and not for very long?" Tom then asked, wanting as much details about his son's condition as he could get.

"There's only so much damage you can cause an organ before it starts to fail Mr. Mason." Kadar replied. He waited a few seconds for the group to process his words before he added, "Honestly, I'm surprised that that hasn't happened already."


	40. The Cost

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller **– Thanks for your review! Glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter as well!

**WARNING** – Again, talk of past suicide attempt. It's nothing big, it's less than what was there last chapter, but if it's something that bugs you, read with caution. I don't think it's that bad, but just wanted to let you guys know.

**Enjoy!**

The first thing that Hal noticed as he came back to awareness was that the pain that he had been feeling constantly for days was nearly completely gone. His chest still ached a little, but it was nothing compared to how it was before. That unnerved him. He doubted that the aliens would care enough to give him painkillers, despite Karen possibly interceding on his behalf. He then realized he wasn't lying on the wooden table or the floor. He was lying on what felt like a gurney that was propping him up a little.

Slowly, dim and foggy memories started returning. Memories of Ben showing up and getting him out of the room, killing the fish-head, Ben killing Karen. Memories of his Dad, Matt, Ben, Maggie, Anne and Lexi leaning over him. Anne injecting something into his arm. Opening his eyes, Hal found that he was in a makeshift hospital room. There was an IV in his right hand and Maggie was sitting in a chair beside him. She wasn't looking at him though. She was looking at their enjoined hands, not aware that he was awake.

"Hey." Hal whispered, causing Maggie's head to snap up to look at him. When she saw that he was indeed awake, she smiled.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" She questioned, moving closer to him.

"Sore." Hal answered, then started looking around the room. Not really recognizing his surroundings, he asked, "Where am I?"

"Back in Chinatown. You were out for most of the trip." Maggie responded, moving her hand to brush his hair away from his face. Then she asked, "Do you remember what happened?"

"A little. Are the others okay?" Hal wondered as more memories started coming back.

Maggie nodded and said, "They're all fine."

"I didn't hurt anyone?" Hal couldn't help but ask, terrified that he might have accidentally used his abilities on the people he cared about. He didn't remember much, but he did recall that he felt like he was losing control. To his relief, Maggie shook her head.

"No, you didn't." Maggie replied. Hal started to relax, but then he noticed a strange expression on her face.

"What is it?"

Maggie turned her head in his direction, but didn't meet his gaze as she said, "When Anne and Lourdes were examining you, they found the scars on your wrists."

"They know?" Hal questioned, feeling his heart start to beat faster in his chest.

"Anne knew what they were." Maggie told him. Lowering her head in guilt, she added, "I'm sorry, but I,"

"You told them." Hal finished for her, turning his gaze to his lap.

"They were worried, and I thought if I explained it then," Maggie ended midsentence, unsure of how to continue. The more she thought about it and started saying it out loud, the guiltier she felt.

"It's okay." Hal found himself saying, and to his own surprise, he actually meant it.

"You sure?" Maggie asked, a little stunned that Hal would say that. She didn't think that Hal would actually be okay that she told his family that he had tried to kill himself, especially since they had actually already seen him try to kill himself before.

For a minute, Hal thought about it. Was he really okay with Anne and Maggie telling his family, he assumed it was his entire family since Maggie said 'they', that he had tried to kill himself? He remembered how freaked out Matt was after he had apparently shot himself when he managed to get control back from the bug Karen planted in him. Maggie, Ben and his Dad were able to hide it better, but Hal could tell they were a little freaked out. Since they never brought it up he assumed that they thought now that the bug was gone and he was himself again it didn't matter and they were right. He would've only done that if he thought he was a risk to the people he cared about. And since Maggie was the one who explained it to the others, she most likely told them why he did it.

However, Maggie promised not to say anything and she did anyways. While that stung a little, a part of him was glad that she did. It meant that his family knew the details and had a chance to process it, instead of just knowing he had tried to commit suicide and freaking out over not knowing what had happened. And it meant that he didn't have to be the one to tell them. He had been hoping they would never find out though he had a feeling if something came up with his powers or Karen that he would try again which would break their hearts, so they probably should be aware of it but he had no idea how to tell them. How could he tell his Dad that he had tried to kill himself? How does someone do that? This way, they knew and Hal didn't have to be the one to tell them.

Looking back over at Maggie, who was still staring at him worriedly, he nodded. She still didn't seem like she really believed him, but she dropped the subject. Before she could say anything however, the door to the room opened and Hal saw his Dad and Anne come inside.

"Hal, you're awake." Tom said with a large smile as he went to Hal's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Anne asked, coming to a stop at the foot of the bed.

"Well, my eyebrows don't hurt." Hal joked, causing his Dad and Maggie to smile. Anne, though she did grin a little, gave him a knowing look and Hal said, "Everything else on the other hand feels like I got run over by a train."

"Yeah I imagine it would. You've been through a lot." Anne told him sympathetically.

"Not enough to be stuck in the infirmary for like a month, right?" Hal wondered with a hopeful tone. He really did not like the idea of being stuck in an infirmary room for any longer than a few days.

"Well," Anne started, then stopped, a little nervous to how Hal would take the news.

"Well what?" Hal questioned, growing worried that Anne wasn't telling him what was going on.

"You have a few bruised ribs, some first degree burns on your torso and back, and a possible concussion, but, when we ran some other tests, we found something else." Anne informed him.

"Which was?" Hal asked, not really liking that he was being kept in suspense.

"You have some internal burns on your organs Hal." Anne revealed.

For a minute, Hal was too stunned and confused to say anything. As he processed the words though, he looked up at the doctor and asked, "Internal burns? How does that even happen? Is that even possible?"

"It is possible, but rarely happens. Basically, you have to ingest chemicals in order to cause it." Anne explained.

"Pretty sure I didn't do that." Hal replied, thinking that he would remember if he did something like that.

"I know you didn't Hal." Anne told him with slight grin. She then turned serious and said, "Kadar and I believe it happened when your alien DNA took over. The tests we ran you weeks ago, after you told us what all happened, showed us that there had been some sort of damage to your kidneys and liver, but it seemed minor and had healed fairly quickly. But it seemed to have happened right after you used your powers."

"So any time I use them, I'm basically burning my body on the inside?" Hal questioned, wanting to make sure he understood correctly.

"From the looks of it, yes. I think that the longer that you use your powers, the worse it gets. Using it for a few minutes might be okay, but any longer than that, with a very little recovery period before using it again, the worse the damage." Anne responded with a nod.

"Okay." Hal said though he sounded a little unsure before he asked, "But, will simply having the DNA do anything?"

Anne exchanged looks with both Tom and Maggie before she looked back over at him and said, "It doesn't look like it, but honestly, I have no idea."

Hal looked back down at his lap. He never thought that much about how exactly his new abilities worked or if they would have long term repercussions or anything like that. After he used them to kill that harnessed kid, he wanted to ignore his abilities, wanted to pretend they didn't exist. And since he had no idea what they had did to him, he had never had alien DNA before, he had no idea if the symptoms he felt when he used his abilities were normal or not. It made sense that there were side effects though.

He looked back over at Anne and was about to ask for more details when he yawned. He was exhausted.

"You should get some more rest Hal. We'll talk later." Tom told him. Hal nodded and closed his eyes, ready to go back to sleep. His Dad was right, they'd talk later. He was safe now. He was finally safe.


	41. The Survivor

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! You'll find out what happens soon. Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked it! I hope you like this chapter too!

**To Alex** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you are enjoying the story! If you do like whump, you should check out my other stories lol. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Hal smiled as Matt told him all about his day from his spot at the foot of Hal's bed. It had been a week since he had been rescued but Anne made him stay in the infirmary. Considering his injuries, he couldn't fault her caution, but it was really starting to get on his nerves. He was glad that he didn't have to deal with people like Pope and those who shared his thoughts, he could only imagine what was going on outside the safety of his room, but he was going stir-crazy. He was sure that if it wasn't for Maggie or his family visiting him constantly, he would've lost his mind by now.

Matt and Lexi were the ones who spent the most time with him. Anne after all had other patients to take care of, his Dad was probably planning another attack or something with Weaver, and Maggie and Ben both had patrols and sentry duty. Matt and Lexi didn't have those kind of jobs. At least, not as often as the others did. They did visit as often as they could though which was nice.

"Hey you two. How's it going?" Anne asked with a side smile as she entered the room.

"It's going. Matt's just been filling me in on the life outside." Hal answered.

"Anything interesting?"

"Everything outside of this room is interesting Anne." Hal told her. Without giving her a chance to respond, he asked, "When am I allowed to leave?"

The doctor let out a small sigh, then said, "I know you want to get out of here Hal and I get it, but we need to make sure that you're okay. Your injuries are uncommon and could be serious."

Hal let out an annoyed breath and let his head flop down on the pillow. He lifted it back up immediately though when Anne said, "However, the results of the tests I ran last night show that your lungs and kidneys are healing and don't seem to have any long-term damage. If, by the end of the day, you're still feeling okay, then you can go."

"Thank you, Anne." Hal responded with a grateful tone.

"There are a few conditions though." Anne revealed, which had Hal raising his eyebrows suspiciously.

"And what's that?" Hal questioned.

"No fighting, at all." Anne told him.

Hal wasn't that surprised, though from the look on her face, Anne seemed to think he would be. Or that he wouldn't take it that well. He knew a long time ago that fighting was dangerous. And not just the normal kind of dangerous. Now that they know his powers were mainly triggered by adrenaline, a war-zone was no the best place to be.

"Okay." Hal agreed.

"And, you have to wear this again." She added, holding up the sling. Hal couldn't help but groan at that. He had completely forgotten about his injured shoulder.

"Do I have to?" Hal asked, hoping the answer would be 'no', but knowing that it wouldn't be.

"If you want your shoulder to heal, then yes, you do." She said. Though wearing a sling was annoying, it meant getting out of the infirmary and his shoulder possibly getting better. So he agreed.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Tom took a break from planning attacks, patrols and food runs around lunchtime. He grabbed a quick bite to eat then headed to the infirmary to check on Hal and see Anne. Spying his girlfriend first in the main area of the building, he walked over to her.

"Hey Anne." Tom said as he approached her. Anne looked up at him and smiled. When he reached her, she gave him a quick peck on the lips and said, "Hey."

"How's your day going?" Tom then asked.

"Pretty well. Got to release a few patients which is good." She told him.

"Is one of those patients Hal?" The father wondered curiously.

"Yes, it will be. Unless something changes in the next couple of hours, he's good to go." She replied. Noticing a strange look in her eyes, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Well, no. It's just, there's still so much that we don't know. I've never seen injuries like the ones he had. I just don't like not knowing what we're dealing with." She told him.

"You think there's something wrong?" Tom questioned with a worried tone.

"I don't know. But all we can do is wait and see what happens." Anne responded.

"Was there anything in the test results?"

"Not that Kadar or I could see, but it's better safe than sorry."

Tom let out a somewhat frustrated sigh, but said, "We can keep an eye on him."

"That won't be hard since he's agreed to not fight at all, which means he will be here, surrounded by people. So If something does happen, we'll know about it." Anne revealed.

"Okay. I'm going to go check on him. I'll see you tonight." Tom said. He gave the woman a kiss on the cheek then headed to his son's room.

Hal was sitting cross-legged on the bed with Lexi sitting in front of him. They seemed to be talking about something hilarious because they were both smiling and laughing. The sight brought a smile to Tom's own face. He was glad that Hal and Lexi were able to bond so easily. They seemed to have gotten closer in the last several weeks. It was times like this that reminded the father of what they were fighting for.

Noticing him standing in the doorway, Hal said, "Hey Dad. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just wanted to check in. How are you doing?" Tom asked as he came to Hal's side.

"Doing fine. Anne says I can go back to my room tonight." He replied.

"Yeah she told me. You're wearing the sling again." Tom observed, only know seeing it.

"One of Anne's conditions."

"Oh. That's good. If Anne thinks it will help, then that's good." Tom responded, mumbling a little which had both Hal and Lexi staring at him with concern.

"You okay Dad?" Hal wondered.

"I'm fine. Just tired." Tom answered, then put a hand on Hal's shoulder, leaned down and added, "You do what Anne says, okay?"

"I will."

"And if you start feeling off in any way,"

"I'll let her know." Hal cut him off. "I promise."

"Good. I'll come back later, alright?" Tom told him, then turned to Lexi and added, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Don't worry, I won't." Lexi assured him with a wide smile. Hal, though unable to keep from grinning, quickly let out an offended, "Hey!"

Tom just smirked at him, then walked out of the room, leaving his son and daughter alone once again.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After supper, Anne finally told Hal that he was officially free to leave the infirmary. Hal immediately grabbed his coat and boots, beyond ready to go. As he did up the laces on his shoes, he saw Maggie entering the room.

"Finally free?" She wondered with a grin.

"Yup." Hal answered as he struggled with his shoes. It was a lot harder to do them up with only one hand.

She watched him struggle for a minute while Anne left the room, slightly amused, then asked, "You need some help with that?"

"No, I got it." Hal replied. Maggie wasn't sure about that, but eventually, he managed to get it and stood up.

When he noticed that Maggie was now standing awkwardly yet wasn't saying anything, he asked, "Want to come with me?"

"Sure."

Together, they left the infirmary and started making their way to the building where Hal's room was. As it was getting late, there weren't that many people around. Those that were however quickly noticed him and were even quicker to stare. Luckily, he didn't see Pope or any of his crew around. And surprisingly, the ones that were there didn't look so hostile like before. It was more, curious, and maybe even a little pitied. Either way, Hal did his best to ignore them. Apparently seeing what was going on, Maggie reached over and grabbed his hand, giving him a small smile which he returned.

"You okay?" She asked quietly so no one else would hear.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal answered, his voice just as quiet though not as convincing. Realizing that there was probably something going on and that this wasn't the place to get into it, Maggie let it go and they continued on in silence.

Once they were in Hal's room, Maggie dropped his hand and moved to stand off to the side, confusing Hal a little. Despite how close they had gotten again after months of separation and a few stolen kisses here and there, they still had yet to figure out where they stood as a couple. He wasn't even sure if they were still a couple. After all, before they were separated all those months ago, she had been pushing him away, acting like she didn't want anything to do with him. And when he did finally return, they just kept dancing around each other.

"Is everything alright?" Hal wondered, wanting to get to the bottom of everything as gently as he could, knowing that Maggie tended to get defensive when it came to a sensitive topics.

"Everything's fine." Maggie said, turning back around to face him. "But are you sure you're okay?"

"A little sore and tired, but I'm alright." He replied, sitting down on the bed. Seeing that she didn't look like she believed him, he reached over, grabbed her hand and asked, "Maggie, what's wrong?"

Slowly, she came to stand in front of him, then quietly admitted, "I just, I don't want to lose you again. I can't."

"Maggie, look at me." The blonde reluctantly lifted her head, revealing the tears in her eyes. Hal immediately brought up his hands to cup her face as he said, "I'm right here. I'm right here."

She nodded, then lowered her head so it rested against his. Hal moved a hand to place it at the back of her head and brought it even closer so he could give her a kiss, which Maggie quickly returned. He intended for it to only be a quick and chaste kiss, not wanting to rush her or anything, but she deepened it into even more. It was like a fire, much different than the kind he had been feeling for the last several months, ignited inside of him. He had missed it, had missed her so much. It must've been the same for Maggie because she actually moved to push his jacket off of him.

Pulling away for air, Hal whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too. Always have." She replied, bringing a smile to his face.

"Stay with me?" Hal asked as he stared into her eyes. Maggie smiled and nodded, then leaned in for another kiss.


	42. Broken Pieces

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**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked it! I mentioned a couple of times already in the story that Lexi is an adult. She looks like how she did in season 4. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Two days after being released from the infirmary, Hal stood alone on top of the roof of the building that he and Maggie were now living in together. After that night, they finally had a long talk and not only did they officially get back together, she moved in with him. He liked the privacy the building gave him and the roof had become his new hiding spot since he was almost invisible up there. If he thought that Pope and his crew were bad before, they were even worse now. To his surprise though, everyone else seemed to almost pity him or something. They kept their distance but they weren't hostile at all. It confused him, but he wasn't going to argue with it.

It was nice being outside. When he left with Karen, he wasn't sure if he'd ever be outside again. He was sure that he was going to end up dying there. Whether it be because of the effects of whatever procedure it was that they did on him, or if he just outlived his usefulness to them. The only way the Overlords would've let him leave is if he was on their side, which would never happen. He still didn't understand how Karen could've thought he'd join them.

A loud noise suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts and had Hal turning around to find Ben climbing up onto the roof.

"Hey." Ben said, coming over to Hal.

"Hey Ben. What's up?" The oldest sibling wondered, giving the younger a smile.

"Just wanted to see how you're doing." Ben told him, looking a little nervous.

"I'm doing okay." Hal told him, still smiling. When the nervous expression still didn't leave Ben's face, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm, worried about you." Ben told him, avoiding his brother's gaze.

"I'm fine Ben." Hal assured him. "Anne herself even said so. I just can't use my abilities."

"That's, not what I meant." The blonde responded. Hal waited a minute for his brother to continue, but when he didn't, he asked, "What did you mean?"

Ben looked even more nervous, but he eventually said, "Maggie told us, about what happened, what you did the first time Karen had you."

"Yeah, I know. She told me." Hal revealed, looking down at the ground. He hadn't talked to anyone about this it, besides Maggie. He had thought his Dad or Anne would confront him about it, but so far they hadn't. He didn't think that Ben would.

"Is that how you knew? That Karen would take your deal?" Ben questioned, turning more to face Hal.

Still keeping his head down, Hal said, "She was the one who found me, when I did that. And I knew that, somewhere in her mind, she, cared about me. Or at least, she thought she cared. I figured it was worth a shot."

Ben nodded but he didn't say anything else. Hal hoped that that meant his younger brother was going to drop the subject, however, he doubted it. Ben was like their Dad, not one to let something go. And Hal could see it on Ben's face. He wasn't going to let this go. Hal just had no idea what he was going to say or do next.

"What is it?" Hal finally asked when he couldn't take the tense silence.

"I'm sorry." Ben told him with a quiet tone.

"For what?"

"For putting you in a position where you had to do that." Hal couldn't help but sigh when he heard that. He didn't really think if his family would blame themselves for his capture, he went willingly after all, but he should've.

"Ben," Hal stared, but stopped when Ben cut him off.

"I was mad at you." Ben admitted and he kept going, unable to stop.

"I mean, when you told us about the harnessed kid, a part of me was mad because, I felt so bad for the kid and, I guess a part of me wondered what would've happened if I was still harnessed and I was there."

Hal wanted to protest, to tell him that he would never have hurt him if he was there, but Ben continued, "I know that was wrong, and I know it wasn't your fault, but I guess I just couldn't really imagine what could've happened to you that was so bad that you would accidentally do that."

"Then, when I found you in the building and saw what they did to you," Ben finally paused, bringing up a hand to cover his mouth, then said, "I'm really sorry Hal. You went through h*ll, and you did it for us. I'm so sorry."

Hal walked over to him, wrapped his arms around him and said, "It's okay Ben. It's okay. I was never mad at you. I understood Ben, I did."

Ben immediately returned the embrace and soon, Hal felt his shoulder getting wet with his little brother's tears. Hal instinctively tightened his hold on him. He didn't know what else to do. It had been a long time since Ben came to him, upset and crying. All Hal could think to do was hold him.

After he stopped, Ben pulled away and as he rubbed his eyes dry, he asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Hal answered, giving him a small smile and hoping that Ben wouldn't be able to see through it.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Later that night, Hal sat on the bed in his room, thinking over everything that happened with Ben. He couldn't really believe that Ben had actually gotten so emotional. He wasn't even sure if Ben would want to talk about how he had been acting before, after he told him about how he killed the harnessed kid. He knew that Ben was upset and understood why, but he thought that if and when Ben got over it, he would just go back to normal and act like nothing happened. That he might apologize, but breaking down, Hal never saw coming.

The door then creaked open and Maggie came in asking, "How was your day?"

"It was fine." Hal replied absentmindedly, his thoughts still on Ben.

Quietly, Maggie took off her coat, her belt with her handguns, and boots. Hal didn't say another word to her and when she looked over at him, she could see he was lost in thought. She waited until she was done and had settled onto the bed beside him before she said anything though.

"I saw you with Ben. Everything okay?" She asked, trying not to sound too worried.

"Yeah, he just wanted to talk." He replied but didn't look at her.

"About what?" Maggie pressed gently, wanting to know more details. Hal however, didn't seem very interested in giving any details.

"Nothing much."

Maggie stayed silent for a minute, wondering if she should just leave it, but she didn't like the look on his face and said, "Hal?"

"There had been some, tension, since I told you guys about how I killed the harnessed kid. We were just, talking about it." Hal reluctantly explained, not wanting to have to remember that night.

"Is everything okay?" Maggie wondered, still feeling like there was something else going on.

"Yeah, I think so." Hal told her, though his mind was racing. With everyone constantly asking him if he was doing okay, he couldn't help but wonder if he actually was. Physically, he was alright. Still a little sore, but he was healing, Anne said so. Mentally on the other hand, he didn't know.

Realizing there was something serious going on, Maggie asked, "Hal, what's wrong?"

"When I was there, and Karen was trying to get me to join her, there was a time where the skitters took me to this room and put this, thing over my eyes." Hal decided to tell her, already feeling like he was about to lose it. As much as he hated feeling vulnerable, he knew that he could be around Maggie and that she wouldn't judge him.

"Okay." Maggie said, feeling a little confused at the moment though she knew that there was more to the story. She was actually a little scared to hear it, especially when Hal lowered his head as though he didn't want her to see his face.

"It, it made me, kind of forget what had happened. Like, I still remembered we were fighting the aliens, but I forgot what had just happened. I was standing on this street, completely alone. Then I heard Matt scream, and I ran over to where I heard him, and I saw him, you, Dad, Ben, Lexi and Anne running from a Mech. It killed you, all of you." Hal revealed, his voice starting to crack up as tears flooded his eyes.

"Hal,"

"And it happened, so many times. And each time, I still couldn't save you." Hal told her, a tear escaping his eye and running down his cheek. "I, can't lose you guys. I can't."

Maggie placed a hand on the back of his head and said, "Hal, baby, look at me."

Slowly, he lifted his head, allowing her to see his red eyes and the tears running down his face uncontrollably. The sight broke her heart. Leaning her head closer to his, she whispered, "It's okay. We're all safe."

"For now." Hal pointed out, his forehead coming to rest against hers. Maggie pulled him into her arms in a tight hug which he immediately returned, burying his head into shoulder.

"I'm right here Hal. I'm right here." She told him. Hal didn't say anything to that and she didn't make him. There wasn't anything to say to that. As much as she wanted, she couldn't tell him that everything was going to be okay, that nothing was going to happen to her or his family because there was no way to assure that. So she just held him and let him cry.


	43. Effects of Trauma

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**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it! Hope you like this chapter as well!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! No problem! I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope you like this chapter too!

**Enjoy!**

Weaver made his way through the crowds towards the makeshift office. He knew that was where Tom would be at the moment. And sure enough, he found him sitting at the large table with lists and maps spread across the surface.

"Working on another attack?" Weaver asked, coming over to sit in one of the chairs on the other side of the table.

"Yeah." Tom answered absently, keeping his focus on the plans he had in front of him.

"At this rate, we might actually defeat the aliens." Weaver told him. They had attacked so many factories, warehouses and bases that it was a little hard to believe there was any Espheni bases left. At least, any left in their area.

"That's the plan." Tom responded, looking up with a grin.

"How's Hal doing?" Weaver changed the subject, leaning back in his chair.

"Okay, I think." Tom replied, then thought about it and added, "He hasn't said much but, he seems to be recovering well."

"Physically." Weave said, knowing that there was no way that Hal was okay mentally.

"I know that he's got to be struggling more than he seems to be, but if I learned anything from last time, it's to try and be more patient, and that's what I'm doing. And now that Karen and the other Overlord are dead, he should be safe. Hopefully." Tom explained what was all on his mind. The Colonel was thinking of a response when there was a knock at the door.

"Tom. Weaver." Anthony said as he entered the room. Seeing that they were both there, he informed them, "Cochise is here."

The two leaders stared at each other for a moment in surprise and confusion. They weren't expecting Cochise to arrive for another few days. It wouldn't be the first time he was earlier, but whenever that happened, it meant that he had something important to tell them. Knowing that, Weaver and Tom stood up and followed Anthony out of the room and building to the courtyard where Cochise was waiting.

"Cochise, welcome back." Tom greeted their alien ally and friend.

"Thank you, Tom Mason." Cochise replied.

"What can we do for you?" Weaver asked, getting right down to business.

"We have discovered that the weapon the Espheni have been trying to build, the Mega-beamer, is nearly complete." Cochise revealed, much to the leaders' surprise.

"I thought we took care of that a while ago." Tom said, remembering the mission where Lexi found out that Hal was possibly still alive. He didn't really remember that much from those days when he had been told his oldest son was dead.

"You destroyed a warehouse that was working on it and delayed them, but they have restarted construction and are almost ready to launch it." Cochise explained. Tom nodded as he started to recall that they had talked about that before the mission.

Looking over at Weaver, Tom said, "Then we better get busy."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal found himself in the small park at the edge of the camp, sitting on a bench that was facing the small pond. He was the only person there at the moment. Most of the time there would be people with their little kids but there was no one there right now. It was getting close to lunch so they were probably all over at the cafeteria or something. And, some were probably avoiding him since there was still some talk of him being an Espheni spy, though that had mostly died down. Either way, he didn't mind the solitude.

"How are you doing?" Hal heard his sister's voice. He looked to the left to find her coming over to him.

"I'm doing alright." He answered. He then waited until she sat down on the bench beside him before he asked, "You?"

"I'm fine. Better, now that you're back, and safe." Lexi replied with a smile, which Hal quickly returned.

"Thanks to you guys." He pointed out. Lexi looked a little embarrassed or something and stayed silent for a minute. She then asked, "Hiding from the world?"

"No, just wanted some quiet." Hal told her, examining his surroundings. Faintly, he could hear people talking from the courtyard, but it was like white noise to him. Everything else in the area was quiet and peaceful. It reminded him of the days when his family when to the park or went camping. He wondered if they were ever going to be able to really experience that again. It would already be different without his Mom there. What if he would lose someone else before that happened?

"You seem worried." Lexi noted with a concerned tone.

"When I was, back with Karen, I," Hal started, then stopped. He did not want to go there. Not again and not with his little sister despite the fact that she looked to be his age. Instead, he simply said, "I just don't like seeing my Dad, Ben, Matt and Maggie going out and fighting when I'm not there to help, to protect them."

"I don't like it either." Lexi responded with a nod, then added, "Makes me really worried about this attack Dad is planning."

Hal's head snapped in her direction as he asked, "What attack?"

"Well, while you were gone, the first time, Cochise told us the Espheni were building this super-powered beamer. We went to destroy one of their factories to stop them. That's when I learned that the Espheni weren't 100% sure you were dead. Today, Cochise showed up and told Dad and Weaver that they had continued building it, and it's almost done. So they're planning an attack on another of those factories to delay it." Lexi filled him in. She wasn't sure if anyone had told about the weapon since he wasn't with them back then and felt he would understand more if he knew everything about it.

"Wouldn't the aliens just keep trying?" Hal questioned.

"Yes, but the point is to delay them until they are defeated, I think." Lexi answered, furrowing her brows in thought, then shrugged and said, "Either way, it's going to be a big fight."

"A dangerous one." Hal murmured, looking down at the ground.

"Aren't they all?" Lexi asked. Hal didn't have an answer for that.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Despite supper being over, Tom and Weaver still sat in the cafeteria area. Since it was the end of the day, it was pretty empty as the majority of the group were off to bed. Or at least, to their rooms/apartments for some downtime. There were still a few people around, either eating late or just having a cup of coffee with their friends, but it was pretty quiet. Weaver and Tom were in the middle of discussing how exactly they were going to destroy the factory where the Espheni were building their new weapon when they spotted Hal coming in their direction.

"Hal, how's it going?" Tom wondered when he saw his eldest child coming towards him.

"Fine." Hal answered, then immediately said in a serious voice, "I heard you guys are going to attack some factory?"

"You heard right." Tom confirmed, now giving Hal his full attention.

"Are you, all going?" Hal asked, voice now more hesitant and nervous.

"The majority of fighters are. It's a big factory, and very well guarded. Cochise is going to try and get us the exact numbers so we know what to expect and figure out a plan to take them down." The former history professor replied, trying to be honest and reassuring at the same time.

"Sounds dangerous." Hal commented, his gaze going off to the side.

"Yes, but it's important. If we let the Espheni build that weapon, then they'll easily destroy all of us." Tom informed him. Hal nodded, but didn't look reassured or happy. It actually looked like he was really worried about something, though Tom wasn't really sure why. They went on dangerous missions like this all the time. Why was he acting like this now? He looked over at Weaver and saw that he also was giving Hal a curious look.

"Is something wrong Hal?" Tom couldn't help but ask when Hal stayed silent, turning his attention back over to his son.

"No, no. Just wondering what was happening." Hal answered, trying to appear calm and nonchalant, then walked away.

Tom waited until he was positive that Hal was out of hearing range before he turned to Weaver and asked, "That seemed weird to you too, right?"

"Yes, but remember, you all still don't really know what all Hal went through when he was Karen's prisoner again." Weaver reminded him.

"I'm beginning to wish one of the abilities he got would let me read his mind." Tom told him, causing Weaver to crack a grin.

"He'll talk when he's ready. In meantime, we've got work to do." Weaver responded. Though Tom was still worried, he knew the Colonel was right and they got right back to work.


	44. Coming Together and Apart

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**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! You'll find out soon! Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – Okay, so I seriously almost made myself cry writing this chapter. So, if you guys cry easily, maybe keep a box of tissues nearby. Hope you all like it!

**Enjoy!**

Two days later, Cochise returned to Chinatown to help plan the attack on the factory. Tom, Weaver and Ben brought him into the office where they had a map spread out on the table with little pieces scattered across it. Normally Ben wouldn't be included in meetings like this, but they decided to have him there as they wanted to see if they could get the rebel skitters to help. They thought it would be better to have Ben there to see for himself so he could explain it all to them.

"So there are about 15 Mechs at each entrance, three normal beamers circling the building, and over a hundred skitters also patrolling. And there's probably an Overlord, or maybe two overseeing the project. They must be desperate to get this thing finished." Weaver stated, looking at the map. There were so many pieces that symbolized the Espheni forces. Too many.

"And there are more coming." Cochise revealed, causing everyone to look over at him in shock.

"What?" Tom asked.

"We have just learned that the Overlords have called for even more reinforcements. Nearly all of their skitters, Mechs, beamers and Overlords on the continent." Cochise explained.

"Either this thing is a lot more powerful than we know, or there's something else going on for them to do that." Ben surmised, sounding a lot calmer than he probably actually was.

"There is." Cochise told them. Seeing that they wanted answers, he said, "We have received word that the Espheni Queen has landed on the planet and is going to oversee the completion of the weapon personally."

Everyone was silent as they processed that. They had actually forgotten about the Espheni Queen as she had never come into play until now. And the fact that she was actually was on earth and was going to be at the factory they were going to attack was even more surprising. It definitely explained why there were going to be so many skitters, Mechs and Overlords, but it would make destroying the super-beamer much more difficult.

"She's taking a mighty risk doing that." Weaver commented.

"From our understanding, she is the one that is going to fly it and use it to take out all of her enemies. It's supposed to be nearly complete by the time she gets there." The Volm informed them.

"What better way to boast your own followers' moral than having you, the leader, there among them and show a power that would ensure you would win?" Tom asked. There were so many times throughout history leaders would do things like that simply for moral, even when they were on the verge of losing a war.

"If we wait until she's there, we can kill two birds with one stone. Destroy the weapon and kill the leader." Ben pointed out. It was a dangerous plan, but one that could turn the tide in their favour.

"You will be vastly outnumbered and, I believe the phrase is, outgunned. And the Queen herself is stronger than the Overlords. It will be nearly impossible to take her down." Cochise said, sounding like he was objecting, but instead he added, "It is a mighty risk, and extremely dangerous, but I, and the other Volm agree that it is one we must take and will offer all the support we can to help."

"We can think of a way to do this." Tom agreed.

"If you do wish to do this, you will have a better chance of succeeding if you bring your son Hal along." Again, everyone's head snapped in his direction, but it was Ben and Tom who looked the most shocked at their ally's words.

"What?" Tom questioned. This was the first time Cochise had ever suggested bringing Hal into the fight. In fact, he was the one who had encouraged them to keep Hal out of it at the beginning when he learned about what the other aliens did to Hal.

"As he has Jomei DNA and their abilities, he has the best chance of taking on the Espheni Queen." Cochise told him.

"No." Ben objected. When the others looked over at him, he said, "Hal using his powers is dangerous for him. And we've already agreed to not him make use them."

"Ben's right." The former history professor replied.

Weaver exchanged glances with Cochise, then turned to look at the ground and sighed. He knew the man who had become his best friend through the way had been through a lot since the war started. His wife was killed while his middle son was kidnapped and harnessed. He walked on an Espheni spaceship and was tortured. Hal was paralyzed and controlled by an eye-bug and tried to kill himself. His girlfriend and daughter were kidnapped and then he was told that they were dead. And after all of that, Hal was also taken by Karen, twice. Of course Tom would want to keep him safe.

And Weaver was fully aware of what Hal went through those months when they were all separated, Tom had told him some of what had apparently happened to Hal only a little over a week ago. As much as Weaver knew that Hal was a fighter, just like his father, he had been through so much. He seemed to have hit his limit and pushing him back into it could put him at his breaking point. Weaver didn't want to do that and he didn't want to put Tom in that kind of position where he had to get his son involved. All of the Masons had become like family to him, but they were in a war. They all had lost people they loved and all had to make sacrifices. They couldn't put in jeopardy the battle that could end the war once and for all for the sake of one person.

"Tom. I know you're concerned, but this might be that battle that leads to the end of the war." Weaver said, taking a step closer to his friend. Tom however shook his head.

"There has to be another way. A way that will end this war without Hal."

The Colonel stared at him, then at Cochise and Ben, then back to Tom and said, "We'll try to come up with something, but if we can't, we have to think about the bigger picture."

"If this attack is successful Tom Mason, you will severely damage the Espheni, to a point that they won't recover from." Cochise chimed in.

"I'll think of about it." Tom relented after a minute of thought, but quickly added, "But in the meantime, let's see if we can come up with a different."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Later that night, Tom asked Hal to come to his office privately. Hal wasn't really sure if he should or not. The last time he went to see his Dad in his office did not go so well after all, but this time they actually were alone and it had nothing to do with Hal being held prisoner by Karen. Instead, the parent told him what Cochise had said about the attack on the factory. How the Espheni Queen was going to be there and how there were going to so many skitters, Mechs, beamers and Overlords there.

"So, this is like the alien version of D-Day. The beginning of the end." Hal said when his Dad finished telling him what all happened that morning.

"Even more effective than D-Day. And technically the quote is 'now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning'." Tom corrected. It was a pretty famous Winston Churchill quote, not one easy for history teachers to forget, depending on what history they studied.

"Good to know you still somehow remember your history." Hal told him with a smirk.

"Good to know you were at least somewhat listening to me and your teachers." Tom responded.

"Had to keep my grades up if I wanted to be on the lacrosse team." Hal reminded him, his tone becoming quieter and a little more serious as he looked down at the ground. Tom winced. He knew that Hal always had good grades, but he usually always focused on Ben's as he had easier time with his classes than Hal did.

"Right." Tom mumbled. Hal, not wanting to talk about that anymore, said, "Back on topic though, were you guys able to come up with a plan?"

"A bit. Cochise is talking to the other Volm now to see how much help they will be able to give, then we'll know roughly how many numbers we have." Tom answered.

"It still won't be enough." The younger man responded.

"No, it most likely won't be. That's, why I wanted to talk to you Hal." Tom told him, looking up to see his face. Hal raised his head to meet his eyes, a nervous expression on his face.

"Okay."

"We are still working on a plan, but Cochise mentioned that, since the Queen still has her Jomei abilities, you would probably be able to help us kill her." Tom said, pausing when he noticed that Hal was tensing up, as if he had already figured what he was about to ask him.

"I know, that I agreed that I would never make you use your powers, and I am still looking for another way, but I don't know if there is one." Hal immediately started shaking his head, took a few steps back and turned around.

"Hal, look at me." Tom told him. Slowly, Hal raised his head again but didn't met his Dad's eyes.

"I so badly want to be selfish right now, you have no idea. You had gone missing. I thought you were dead. Then you were captured by Karen and could've died. And that's just in the last few months. If I could, I would have you, Ben, Matt, Lexi, Anne and Maggie out of this war and someplace safe, but I can't. We're fighting a war Hal, for our own survival. I can't be selfish, no matter how much I want to. I have to put our survival first." His Dad said, sounding completely torn about the whole thing.

"I know you hate using your powers, and I know that it's dangerous. I know that,"

"I don't want any of this Dad. I never wanted any of this." Hal cut him off, shaking his head again. He felt like he was trapped in a nightmare. He had been a prisoner to an evil alien race twice, was experimented on, tortured and was now being told that he, and his family members had to go into a dangerous battle where they could all be killed.

"I know." Tom responded. He knew from the beginning that Hal didn't want the powers. That he, along with everyone still left on the planet didn't want to fight a war with aliens either, but they didn't really have a choice.

"I do want to help but," Hal stopped, stared down at a spot on the floor and whispered, "I can't watch you guys die again."

Tom's eyebrows shot up when he heard that and he asked, "What do you mean again?"

Hal tensed up even more than he already was. He hadn't meant to say that. Maggie was the only person he had told about what Karen had forced him to live through. It was hard enough having to relive it once, along with constantly seeing it over and over when he tried to sleep. He didn't want to talk about it again. He couldn't.

"Hal?" Tom prompted when his son stayed silent.

"I just, I just need a minute." Hal said, pulling away from him and again turning around so he wasn't looking at him.

"Hey." Tom said, walking over to Hal and added, "You don't have to decide anything right now. There might be a way we can do this without you. I just, I just thought you should now and have a chance to think about it. I didn't want to blindside you."

Hal nodded, then made his way to the door. Before he got to it, Tom called out, "Wait."

The young man slowly turned back to face him, but kept his head lowered. Tom walked to him, put a hand on his shoulder and said, "No matter what, I love you."

"Love you too Dad." Hal replied, looking up at him with tears in his eyes. Tom pulled his son into his arms and hugged him tightly. Hal returned it, but refused to cry. He looked weak enough in front of his Dad, he didn't want to make it worse. He just accepted the comfort he was given then pulled away and walked out of the room without another word, unaware of the heartbroken look on his Dad's face.


	45. Survivor or Fighter

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**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Actually there's ten more chapters left before this story is down. Hope you like this chapter!

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! You'll find out soon. I'm glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter too!

**Enjoy!**

That morning, Tom had to drag himself out of bed. He hardly slept and was exhausted but he knew that he couldn't stay in bed. There was too much work to do. If everything went according to plan, tomorrow morning, he and the rest of the 2nd Mass soldiers would be heading out towards the factory to destroy it and the Espheni Queen. Ideally, Tom would like more time to prepare, but the appearance of the Espheni's leader moved up their time table. If they wanted to kill her and destroy the weapon before it could be used, they had to move now.

Thinking that coffee and food would help wake him up, Tom went to the cafeteria and got his breakfast. He then looked over the tables, wondering if his kids or Anne or Weaver were around and still eating as they had probably gotten up before he did. He quickly spotted Hal, sitting at an empty table off in the corner. Without thinking twice, Tom made his way over to him. As he got closer, he noticed the slumped way Hal was sitting and the circles under his eyes, telling him that he didn't sleep that well either. He didn't even notice that the older man had approached him until Tom put his tray down on the table.

"Hey." Tom greeted as he sat down at the table beside him.

"Hey." Hal said back though he didn't really look at him.

"You okay? You look tired." Tom observed when Hal didn't say anything else.

"Didn't sleep great last night." The young man informed him, still staring at his half-empty plate and cup of coffee. Tom felt a stab of guilt hit him in the stomach. He had tossed and turned all night, wondering if he did the right thing by telling Hal, and was really regretting it. Hal had enough to deal with without burdening him with this.

"I'm sorry." The father apologized, finally causing Hal to look up at him.

"It's not your fault." Hal told him. Tom didn't answer that, knowing that that wasn't true. He didn't have to tell him last night.

Needing a change in topic, Hal asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing really, I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay." Tom answered and Hal internally groaned. He had hoped that there was a different reason his Dad wanted to see him, hoped that there was something else to talk about, but it kept going back to this.

"I'm fine." Hal replied. Tom however shook his head, fully aware that his son was just trying to get him to drop the subject.

"It's okay if you aren't Hal. I doubt anyone would be okay given everything you've been through."

"Well I don't know what to tell you." Hal told him, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm okay."

Tom dropped his gaze and mumbled, "I shouldn't have told you what was going on."

"No, I'm glad I know. I just, need time to think." Hal quickly responded. As much as the whole thing sucked, and as torn and scared as he was, he'd rather know what was going on. He couldn't do anything to help if he didn't know what was happening after all.

"Hal, if there's something bugging you, if you ever need to talk, you can talk to me." Tom said, looking back up at him. When Hal stayed quiet, he asked, "You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know." Hal answered, doing his best to sound sincere, but it looked like his Dad didn't really believe him. He supposed that shouldn't have been a surprise. It was no secret, especially between the two of them, that if Hal was struggling he'd rarely ever go to his Dad, before the invasion and after.

"Okay." Tom responded, deciding to finally let the matter drop. He knew that this whole thing was still upsetting his son, but he also knew that Hal wasn't going to say anything. So they finished their breakfast in complete and total silence, with Tom wishing there was something he could do to make things better, but there wasn't. And when Ha hadl finished and stood up and left, Tom let him.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Once he was done breakfast, Tom joined Weaver in the office. He had already started making lists of what they needed to talk about and which few soldiers they were going to leave in Chinatown to protect the people that were going to remain behind. He had even started coming up with the plan of attack, but was mostly holding off on that until Tom was there. They were in the middle of working on that when Tom seemed to have tuned out the conversation.

"What's wrong?" Weaver asked, noticing that Tom was struggling to concentration on what they were doing.

"Last night, I talked to Hal about what we had discussed that morning with Cochise and Ben." Tom answered.

"And?" Weaver prompted when his friend didn't say anything else.

"I don't know. I think, I think he does want to help, but, he's scared." Tom revealed. "Not about anything happening to himself, but about something happening to the rest of us."

"Like, him accidentally losing control?" Weaver then asked, trying to understand the situation. Hal had been one of their best soldiers. The soldier couldn't really think of a reason why he would suddenly be scared now, unless of course there was something going on that he didn't know about.

"Maybe, but he had said something about not wanting to watch his family die in front of him again."

"'Again'?" Weaver questioned, a confused frown on his face.

Hesitantly, Tom revealed, "When I went on my own to look for Anne and Lexi, Karen had this machine, that messed with my head. It put me in this world where the war didn't happen, but in a way that she was trying to find answers about the Volm strike. It was so real."

"You think she did the same thing to Hal?" Weaver asked, knowing that Tom did not want to talk about whatever it was that he had seen.

"It wouldn't surprise me, though it sounds like whatever she showed him was very different." Tom responded. He then lowered his head, let out a sigh and added, "I don't know what to do. I hate that he's in this position and I hate that I put him there."

The Colonel put a hand on the former history professor's shoulder and said, "You didn't Tom. The Espheni did."

Tom didn't really look convinced, but he nodded in agreement. "Still, we should keep working on a plan that doesn't involve Hal."

"Okay." Weaver agreed. Without another word on the previous topic, they continued planning their attack, but deep down, Weaver was positive that no matter what they came up with, in the end, they would need Hal to be successful. The only question was, if he would get involved or not.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After working all morning and part of the afternoon with Tom, Weaver made his way through the courtyard. They finally came up with a plan, one that didn't involve Hal, but that feeling of needing Hal in order for it to actually work never left. He wasn't intending to do anything about it, except maybe bringing it up to Tom again later, but when he saw Hal leaving the infirmary, probably having to do another check up or physio for his shoulder or something, the soldier found himself walking towards him.

"How are you doing Hal?" Weaver asked, coming to walk alongside him.

"I'm okay." Hal replied with a reassuring smile.

"That's good." Weaver stated. Hal waited for him to say something else but when he didn't, he realized why the man was here. "You're here to talk about the attack, aren't you?"

Weaver didn't answer, but that alone was an answer in itself. Hal then glanced around, looking to see if there was anyone nearby. Though there were, they all seemed to be focused on whatever tasks they were doing. Most of them were loading the trucks and other vehicles with weapons and supplies, reminding Hal that he didn't have a lot of time to make up his mind. No wonder the other 2nd Mass leader wanted answers, but he would've thought that Weaver would let his Dad handle it instead of getting involved himself.

"I know I shouldn't be scared, or should be feeling so, reluctant, to fight. I've fought the aliens so many times, even when I couldn't use my legs. But I," Hal broke off, unable to explain it.

"You've been through a lot Hal. Everyone gets to a point where they've been through too much to want to keep going, and that's nothing to be ashamed of." Weaver told him with a gentle tone of voice.

"But you still want me to fight." Hal stated, his voice making it clear that there was nothing Weaver could say that would convince him otherwise and Weaver didn't try.

"As much as it sucks, we're in a war. We need to think about the entire human race." He responded, and immediately winced when he realized how heartless that sounded. So he put a hand on Hal's shoulder, gently as it was his injured one, causing Hal to stop and look over at him. When he did, Weaver said, "I know you're tired, and scared, but I also know you're strong. A lot stronger than you think. Don't let the aliens take that away from you."

Weaver then let go and walked away, leaving Hal alone to think over everything he had just said.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Early the next morning, Tom watched as everyone said goodbye to those they were leaving behind and got ready to go. He could see Ben, Matt and Lexi joining Deni in one of the trucks and Anne getting into the truck that they would be taking. He also spotted Maggie but he didn't see Hal at all. He would've thought that Hal would at least be coming to say goodbye and wish them luck, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

"We good to go?" Tom questioned, looking over the lineup. Beside him, Weaver did the same thing.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Weaver answered. Tom opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes focused on his oldest son walking towards them. He wasn't wearing his sling, but he did have his gun hanging over his shoulder.

"Hal?"

The young man reached then and with a resolute voice, his said, "I'm coming."

As worried as he was, Tom couldn't deny the pride he felt over his son's decision. Nodding, he looked over at Weaver and said, "Okay. Let's get this show on the road."


	46. Beginning of the End

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24 **– Thanks for your review! Sadly, every story must come to an end. Hope you like this chapter!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – So, it seriously wasn't until I got to this chapter that I realized that I never wrote Hal's perspective of what Tom had told him, and I felt a bit ashamed of myself for that. So in this chapter, we are finally going to see Hal's thoughts of everything. Also, this chapter was actually a little difficult to write, so I'm sorry if it's a little sloppy. Hope you guys like it though!

**Enjoy!**

Hal kept both hands on the wheel of the truck he was driving. Maggie sat beside him and though he could feel her eyes on him, she didn't say anything which he was grateful for. However, he couldn't help but wonder how long that would last. He was surprised that she had been quiet for so long already. He had thought that the minute they started driving along with the rest of the trucks and cars that they were taking she would be asking him if he was okay or if he was sure he wanted to do this, but she hadn't.

Honestly, Hal wasn't sure how he felt about the situation. On one hand, he knew that they were in a war for their survival. They needed to do everything they could to win, and with his abilities, he could help a lot. Even Lexi, despite having done no fighting at all before, had joined them. She had powers as well and she was more than willing to use them. On the other hand, Hal was furious. He was mad at his Dad for practically guilting him into coming whether he meant to or not, at Karen for experimenting on him and torturing him, at the Espheni invading the planet in the first place. As much as he didn't want to be in a fight where he might see his family die and as terrified as he was of seeing that and losing control of his powers and hurting someone who wasn't an enemy, he knew he was needed here. Whether he liked it or not. And despite being willing to do it, he couldn't help but feel this was all a bad idea. That something bad was going to happen.

"How are you doing?" Maggie asked, seeing the way Hal was clenching the wheel.

"Getting really sick of people asking me that." Hal replied with a sharp tone.

"Yeah I guess you would be." She commented quietly and Hal felt a twinge of guilt for snapping at her. Before he could do anything about it though, he felt her hand come to rest on his arm as she said, "You know it's just because people care about you, right?"

"Yeah I know." Hal answered, shooting her a smile before turning his eyes back to the road.

Maggie waited a minute, just to make sure that he wasn't still so defensive, then asked, "What's on your mind?"

"I just, have a really bad feeling about this. About all of this." Hal revealed hesitantly. He had been thinking about it pretty much constantly since he learned about the attack but he still wasn't sure exactly how to explain it all.

"I'm sure it will be okay." Maggie tried to assure him.

Hal however looked over at her and with an extremely serious voice, asked, "You really think so?"

Maggie paused at that, making it clear that she either didn't believe it, or didn't know if she believed it. Hal felt a little bad because he knew that not only was she trying to cheer him up, she wanted him to agree with her so that she felt reassured as well. However, he wasn't sure he could give her that right now. Every instinct in his body was telling him that something bad was going to happen, that something was going to wrong. It could just be anxiety or something like that but he wasn't sure. Odds were that something was going to go wrong as nothing ever went according to plan, but usually he was always optimistic that everything would be fine. This time, he didn't feel that and he didn't have the energy or motivation to fake it.

"I just want you to promise me that you'll be careful." Maggie told him quietly.

This time, it was Hal who reached over to grip her hand. When she looked over at him, he promised, "I'll do my best."

Knowing that that was the best answer that Maggie was going to get as well the most honest one, she gripped his hand back and dropped the subject. The next half hour of the drive passed in comfortable silence until they finally arrived at the rendezvous point where they would split up and circle the factory on foot.

The second that they got out of the car, Weaver shouted, "Alright everyone. Let's get to work."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hal checked his gun at least three times before he was confident that it was good to go. Already half of the group had left to go their designated spots, which included Ben, Matt, Lexi and Maggie while the other half was getting ready to leave. The plan was to circle the factory, making it harder for the aliens to escape. It would also make it easier for them to abort if need be.

He was in the middle of making sure that he had everything he needed before he joined the group he was assigned to be with to head to the factory when he spotted his Dad coming towards him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear whatever he was going to say, but he forced himself to stay put and wait for his Dad to reach him.

"You ready for this?" Tom asked Hal, watching him worriedly.

"Yup." Hal said, trying to sound confident. From the look on his Dad's face, he either didn't succeed or his Dad was learning how to tell when he was lying. He kind of hoped it was the first one. He didn't like the idea of his Dad figuring out when he was lying.

"Hal, about what I said, I didn't mean to put this whole thing on your shoulders." Tom told Hal, still feeling guilty for how he handled things.

"I know." Hal replied. Though he was still a little mad, he knew that his Dad was upset about what happened as well and he didn't want to make it worse.

"You can back out at anytime." Tom said, then admitted, "Part of me wishes you would. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And I don't want anything to happen to you, or to Matt, Ben, Lexi, Maggie, Anne and everyone else." Hal responded, looking away from his Dad.

"Hal," Tom started, then stopped when the whistling sound of an engine filled the air. Looking up, he saw a beamer coming straight for them and he knew that not only was any plan they had at attacking the factory was ruined, they were the ones about to be attacked.

"Beamer!" Someone screamed in warning. Right after that, Weaver also yelled out, "Everyone take cover!"

Hal immediately started running over to the trees, hoping to get some cover. His Dad did the same, ending up only a few feet away. The beamer started firing as everyone tried to get out of the way. A few of the soldiers, with the guns modified with Volm technology tried to shoot the beamer down but it was too fast and was shooting at them too often. Realizing that they weren't safe enough under the tree coverage, Tom looked around for a different spot to hide, then saw his oldest son's panicked expression.

"Look out!" Hal shouted, fear and panic covering his face. Tom turned around just in time to see the beamer flying in his direction. Before he could do anything, the beamer fired and Tom felt himself flying through the air before everything went black.


	47. Art of War

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Well, you know me. I love my cliffhangers! Hope you like this chapter!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Sorry, but I really love cliffhangers. Hope you like this chapter! And that you had a good nap.

**Enjoy!**

Hal awoke with a loud ringing in his ears, his head pounding and his muscles aching. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was lying on the ground, flat on his stomach. He lifted his head and saw complete chaos. There were people, skitters, Mechs, and Volm all fighting off in the distance, but in his small area, everyone was on the ground. The closest person to him was Anthony and at first, Hal thought that he was just waking up as well, but then he noticed how empty his eyes were and that he wasn't blinking. Hal didn't need to check his pulse to know that he was dead.

The realization felt like a punch to the stomach. He had known Anthony for years. He was one of the first people he met when he and his family first joined up with the 2nd Mass back in Boston. They hadn't been as close over the last while as he was struggling with being bugged, the separation, having powers and being kidnapped again, but he was still someone that Hal considered a friend. He was one of the few people who were nice to him despite what he did when he was being controlled and how everyone else was so suspicious of him when he came back. And now he was gone.

Looking around to see who else was around, Hal spotted his Dad, also lying on his stomach a few feet away. Immediately, panic filled his stomach, especially when he realized he couldn't tell if his Dad was breathing or not.

"Dad?" Hal said as he started crawling on his hands and knees towards his father, unsure if he had regained enough strength to walk. Reaching, he shook his shoulder and said, "Dad, wake up."

His Dad remained completely motionless. Hal moved his hand to the older man's neck and sighed in relief when he felt the pulse beating strongly and steadily against his fingers. Knowing he had to get his Dad out of the fight zone and somewhere safe, Hal flipped him onto his back, then did his best to drag him towards a clump of bushes. Not once did his Dad make a noise or give any kind of sign that he was waking up. The large bump on his head seemed to make it clear that he could be out for a while, making him defenseless. Hal doubted a skitter or Mech or Overlord would go out of their way to see if he was alive and kill him, but he wasn't safe out in the open. Hopefully he would be safer here until he either woke up or the battle was over.

At first, Hal debated if he should stay close to his Dad to protect him or if he should join the fight. It only took a few seconds for him to make up his mind though. He had no idea if the weapon was destroyed yet or if the Queen was dead and there were still several Overlords, skitters, Mechs and beamers attacking them. He had to do what he could to help. After double checking to make sure his Dad was okay, he got up and went to where most of the fighting was happening.

He only took a few feet however before he came to a sudden stop as a figure approached him. The figure was larger than an Overlord by at least a foot and the face looked more human but it still had the grey skin. It, or she as the figure's shape made it clear that it was female, also had bluish white hair that ran from her head down her back in a tight braid. Hal had never seen an Overlord like her before, and he knew that she wasn't just any Overlord. She was the Espheni Queen.

"So this is the Jomei/human hybrid I was told about." The alien Queen stated as she started circling Hal. He was a bit surprised that she could actually talk, but he ignored it.

"And you must be the Jomei traitor." Hal shot back somewhat sarcastically which visibly stunned the queen. However, it soon changed to anger.

"What do you know of what happened thousands of years ago?" She questioned as she continued to walk around him. "No one who was there is still alive, besides me."

"Stories still go around." Hal told her. As uncomfortable as he was with being stalked like a predator does its prey, the longer she remained distracted, the more of a chance that the 2nd Mass soldiers, the rebel skitters and the Volm could take down the Espheni.

"That they do, but shouldn't you hear both sides of the story before you judge?" The Queen pointed out, sounding like he was foolish for thinking that she was actually evil.

"Considering you invaded my planet and killed almost everyone on it, and did the same thing to countless other planets, I don't think I need to hear your side." Hal responded, taking a step backwards, trying to subtly get to his gun without the Queen noticing.

"Even if I could tell you that I could make you more powerful?" She wondered, stopping in her tracks to stare at him.

Hal was torn between laughing at the ridiculousness of her question, and screaming at her. How could she possibly think that he could, that he would, forget everything that she did, if she gave him more power? She was just as crazy as Karen was. So sure of herself, so certain and confident, yet so blind. Then again, why would he expect anything more from her? This 'Queen' in front of him had experimented on herself in order to gain more power, experimented on others and destroyed her home planet for it. And though Hal knew that there have been several people who have done terrible things for power on his own planet, he wasn't one of those people.

"Why would I want that? I never wanted any powers in the first place!" Hal shouted before he focused on imagining the alien flying through the air. Since she wasn't expecting it, she wasn't able to block him and she was pushed away before crashing into a tree and falling to the ground. Taking advantage of the small amount of time he had before she got back up, he jumped for the gun.

Once he had it, he turned around and found the Queen was already getting up, a murderous expression on her face. He raised his weapon, but was only able to fire off one shot before the Queen's eyes focused on him and the gun was pulled out of his hand as she yelled, "You are foolish!"

The gun flew off to the side and before Hal could do anything about it, he felt an invisible hand wrap around his neck and squeezed. He started gasping almost immediately when he realized he couldn't breathe. As he tried to get air into his lungs, he managed to look up at the Queen. He saw that she had her arm stretched out and her fist closed tightly. It reminded him of Star Wars actually. He was just about to black out when suddenly, something metal that Hal couldn't recognize flew past him and hit the Queen straight it the face, causing her to stumble and lose her hold on him. Hal dropped to the ground on his hands and knees and instinctively started heaving, precious oxygen finally getting into his body.

"Get away from him!" Hal lifted his head in time to see his little sister standing about 10 feet behind him, hands up and furious expression on her face. She then, using her telekinesis, lifted a large boulder and threw it at the alien.

The Queen was barely able to duck out of the way, but unfortunately, she did. However, she did lose her balance which gave Lexi time to rush over to Hal. He wanted to ask her where she came from, wanted to tell her to get out of here and go somewhere safe, but he didn't get a chance. She had reached for his arm to help him up but she then suddenly flew away threw the air.

"Lexi!" Hal cried out. He was able to stand and was about to run to her when he felt himself being pulled backwards before landing on his back. Looking up, he saw the Queen coming to his side before she crouched down so she was closer to the ground.

"You will never win." The Queen hissed as she leaned over him.

Hal's attention however, wasn't really on her. Instead, he was staring up at the dark clouds in the sky. Cochise had said one of the abilities the Jomei could have was the power to control electricity. While he still didn't know what all he could do, he know that he could do something like it since he was able to take down Mechs, a beamer, and destroyed a lightbulb in his room. Of course, all of those had electricity flowing through them already. Was it possible that he could pull it out of clouds?

As if answering his question, Hal saw a small streak of lighting cross from one cloud to another. Looking back at the Queen, he smirked and asked, "Wanna bet?"

She looked at him suspiciously, but he kept his focus on the sky above. He felt his body start to burn again to the point of being nearly overwhelming but he kept going. The sound of thunder echoed in the air, causing the Queen to look up. As she did that, a bolt of lighting struck down right on her head, electrocuting her. She screamed so loudly that Hal thought his eardrums might burst. When he stopped the lighting, she stopped and fell over onto her side. Needing to know if he had actually killed her or not, Hal forced himself up onto his knees and was about to crawl closer, but once he was up, he got a clear look at her face. Her eyes were wide open and empty, just like Anthony. She was dead. Relieved and exhausted, he sat back on his knees, almost numb to everything else going on around him.

"Hal!" He heard Maggie's voice shout. Suddenly she was on her knees in front of him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him close.

"It's okay, I got you." She whispered in his ear. Hal nodded against her shoulder as he weakly managed to get his own arms around her.

"You did it." Hal heard a different voice say. He turned his head to the side to find Ben, staring at him as he knelt down beside Lexi, who was regaining consciousness. He gave them both a smile before he closed his eyes, feeling like he was about to fall asleep right then and there. His body was burning, begging for rest and he didn't think he could hold it back any longer.

However, he suddenly felt Maggie stiffen up before she said, "Oh no."

He forced his eyes open again, wondering the problem was now, and saw hordes of skitters and Overlords screeching angrily that their Queen was dead. And they were making their way towards them.

**AN** – So in case you guys were confused or have forgotten, Jomei are more powerful and stronger than Espheni Overlords are because Espheni are technically Jomei who have experimented on themselves to the point where they have actually weakened themselves. Since Lexi's DNA is human/Espheni, she is not as strong as Hal or the Queen because they both have more Jomei DNA than she does and Hal is stronger than the Queen because the Jomei DNA in him is also purer than the Queen's is, despite the fact that he is also part human. Hope you guys liked this chapter! See you all next time!


	48. Know That I Tried

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad! I was kinda worried that the last few chapters have been a little sloppy because I've been getting a bit burned out. Hope you like this chapter!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you had a nice hibernation. Wish I could have that lol. Just so you know, there are more cliffhangers ahead. Sorry, not sorry. Hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

As the enemy aliens closed in on them, Hal tried to mentally wake himself up. He had to get up, had to help. Maggie, Ben and Lexi were still nearby. He couldn't let them get hurt. Before he could actually do something though, guns started firing at the approaching skitters and Overlords. He turned his head to the side and saw other fighters, humans and Volm, coming to help.

"Come on, we gotta move!" Ben yelled as he helped Lexi up. Maggie nodded and pulled Hal to his feet. He struggled to walk alongside her, trying to keep from putting his weight on her, but he was so tired. He just wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

Maggie seemed to be thinking along the same lines that he was because she brought him to a tree, lowered him down so that he was sitting up against the trunk and said, "Stay here, okay?"

Hal nodded and watched as Maggie ran back into the fight. Ben brought Lexi over and set her down beside him, then rushed to join Maggie. Hal watched the fight for a minute, then turned over to Lexi and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I think so. My head just hurts." Lexi answered with a groan, her eyes closing.

"Try to rest, but don't actually fall asleep. You probably have a concussion." Hal told her. She nodded, but kept her eyes closed and stayed quiet. He was a little worried that she might pass out but at the moment, they had bigger concerns on their hands.

With how many Overlords and skitters were coming this way, they somehow must've known that the person who killed their Queen was over here. Maybe they had seen the lightning strike or something. Or maybe there were connected to her like they were connected to the skitters and harnessed kids. Either way, they were out for revenge. He could see Maggie, Ben and the other fighters trying to hold them back, but they were struggling. Most of their small army was on the other side of the factory, leaving them more outnumbered than they already were. Then Hal noticed three beamers coming straight for them and pushed himself up to his feet despite his exhaustion. They were going to need his help dealing with those.

"What are you doing?" Ben asked loudly, wanting to make his older brother heard him over the gunfire.

"Helping." Hal replied. Without giving Ben a chance to argue with him, he lifted his hands towards the beamers that were flying overhead and felt the fire run through his veins as he took over them. Seconds later, they flew straight into each other, causing a massive explosion in the air, the leftover debris falling down towards earth.

Exhaustion flooded Hal's body, replacing the fire. He could feel his arms and legs shaking but he didn't sit or lie down. As much as he wanted to stop, to go to sleep, the fight was still going on. He had to do whatever he could to end it. He looked around to see where his gun had been left, but he couldn't see it from where he was. He was considering grabbing a random gun from one of the dead fighters that were around when he heard the stomps of Mechs coming closer.

"Hal!" He heard Ben scream his name, but he paid it no mind as he turned his focus to the approaching Mega-Mechs that had just arrived. It was harder to gain control of them than it was the regular Mechs, but he had no idea if it was because they were stronger than normal Mechs or if it was because he had used his powers so much already. Eventually, he was able to control them as well and turned them on the Overlords.

Hal tried to keep control of the Mechs as long as he could, but he had never controlled two at the same time before. With every passing second, he could feel his strength waning. He wasn't sure how long he could keep his hold on them. Using them, he was able to kill several Overlords, but there were so many of them and they just kept coming. More humans and Volm were coming to help but he wasn't sure if it was enough. When he finally felt like he couldn't keep hold on them any longer, he used his powers to shut them down. He might not be able to control them anymore but he wasn't going to let the Espheni use them either.

The second he did that, he fell to his hands and knees. His head felt like it was floating, like it wasn't connected to his body anymore. His limbs were still shaking, threatening to collapse under his weight. He wanted to sleep. Wanted to close his eyes and just pass out, even if there was a battle going on around him. Before he could though, he saw a pair of an Overlord's legs in front of him. He lifted his head to look the alien right in the eyes. The Overlord drew its sword from its hand and was about to strike him down when it suddenly stabbed itself in the stomach. Hal looked over his shoulder and saw that Lexi was up on her feet and ready to fight again.

He let himself relax just a little at that. With his sister back in action, and more humans, Volm and now rebel skitters coming to help, it looked like they might actually win this fight. He tried to get back up to his feet, still desperate to help, but his legs and arms finally collapsed under him and everything turned black.

"Hal!" Maggie screamed as she watched him fall to the ground. Not even caring about the fight, she ran over to him.

As soon as she reached him, she pushed him off his side and onto his back. She reached out to check his pulse, but pulled away in surprise. His skin felt like it was on fire and he was sweating to the point his clothes were practically soaked. His temperature felt hotter than when they had rescued him from Karen a few weeks ago. She didn't think that that was possible.

"Is he okay?" Ben asked, coming over to kneel on Hal's other side.

"He's burning up." Maggie answered, barely taking the time to glance at Hal's younger brother. As Ben reached down to check his pulse, she started tapping his cheek as she said, "Hal come on, wake up."

"He's still got a pulse, and he's breathing." Ben told her.

Maggie heard him, but didn't respond. Despite shaking him, despite begging him, Hal wouldn't wake up at all. She knew he had killed the Queen, most likely with his powers, then she saw him destroy those beamers and control the Mega-Mechs. Anne said he couldn't do to much, but did he? What exactly was too much?

"Come on. We need to get him out of here." Ben said, moving to help drag Hal up off the ground. Maggie immediately helped the blonde. Though there was still a fight happening, she could tell it was almost over. It looked like they were winning but she didn't care. Her thoughts were solely on Hal. They had to get Hal out of here, had to get him to safety, get him to Anne so she could help him. They had to help him. She didn't think she could live in a world without him.


	49. Death Doesn't Discriminate

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – I can't remember if I've said this or not, but I usually try to make sure all the medical stuff is accurate, but since we are dealing with aliens and alien DNA, it probably won't be. Sorry. Hope you guys still like the story and this chapter though!

**Enjoy!**

Tom was forced awake by a throbbing, pounding pain in his head. He squeezed his eyes closed tighter than they already were in an effort to block out the pain and hopefully go back to sleep. That didn't happen though. If anything, he just became more and more awake. More aware of what was going on around him. He could feel that he was lying down on a thin mattress, a pillow under his head and a blanket over him. He could almost ignore the fact that the bed he was lying in wasn't the bed he shared with Anne, but he couldn't ignore the slight pain near the crook of his right elbow or the sound of people walking around and talking. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

"Dad?" Tom turned his head and saw Matt sitting in a chair by his bedside.

"Matt. What happened?" Tom asked as he pushed himself up on his elbows. The last thing he remembered was getting ready to destroy the Espheni factory and hopefully, the Queen. But he couldn't remember anything after that. Did the attack happen? Were they successful?

"You were knocked out after an explosion. You hit your head really hard. You have a bad concussion." Matt informed him, his voice quiet and almost emotionless. As much as that worried Tom, he needed answers more.

"Are we back in Chinatown?" He wondered, somewhat recognizing the room that he was in as one of the rooms in the infirmary.

"Yeah." Matt confirmed. From the scared and worried expression on his youngest son's face, Tom had a bad feeling that something had definitely gone wrong.

"Did we win?" Tom then asked. Being back in Chinatown didn't automatically mean that they won the battle. They might've had to retreat.

"Yeah." His youngest son answered, then frowned and said, "Well, I think so. We destroyed the weapon, and the Queen is dead. So are a lot of Overlords, but the others ran."

"That's good." The father remarked with a small smile. When he saw the worried, almost terrified expression remain on Matt's face though, he asked with a concerned tone, "What's wrong?"

"Hal." Matt said and Tom felt his heart plummet down to his stomach, even before his youngest continued, "He's in bad shape."

"How bad?" Tom demanded, now fully sitting up. He couldn't believe that that wasn't the first thing he asked about. He had been so terrified of something happening to his oldest child, a fear that apparently had come true and he didn't even think of it.

With tears starting to gather in his eyes, Matt replied, "I don't know."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After yanking out his IV, and finding his shoes and coat, Tom followed Matt through the infirmary to where Ben, Lexi and Maggie were waiting for news about Hal. Tom was somewhat stunned to see how packed the place was. He had been out for the majority of the fight so he had no idea how bad it was and from the looks of it, they might've won but it was at a big cost. From what Matt had said, he had been out for a while but the doctors and nurses still looked extremely busy and flustered with patients. He pushed all of that to the back of his head though when he spotted his two other children and Maggie sitting in chairs in the little 'waiting area'.

"Dad." Ben exclaimed with a relief tone when his gaze landed on him as he jumped to his feet. Lexi also got up and together they walked over to Tom, who quickly wrapped them both in his arms. He was still worried about his eldest, but he was glad to see that they were okay.

He soon pulled away to examine them and seeing a few bruises on both of them, he asked, "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Lexi answered with a smile. Ben though cut in and said, "Lexi has a minor concussion."

"It's very minor. Barely hurts anymore." Lexi assured him, shooting Ben an irritated look before doing so. Knowing that they would've told him if it was something serious, Tom didn't give it much thought, especially since his daughter appeared to be completely fine.

"Any word on Hal?" He questioned, needing any answers he could get about his endangered child.

Ben though, shook his head as he responded, "No, not yet."

"How long has it been?" Tom then asked. He had no doubt that there were several people injured during the attack. Maybe Anne, or whoever was looking after Hal had only just gotten to him.

"Over three hours." Lexi revealed, destroying that thought. His worry grew at the information, but he forced himself to remain hopeful. After all, Hal was strong. He was fighter. He wasn't going to let this beat him.

"I'm sure everything will be alright." Tom told her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Neither Lexi nor Ben nor Matt looked overly convinced, but they nodded and went back over to their seats, where Maggie was still sitting, and sat down. Tom and Matt also took a seat beside them and together, the five of them waited.

For the next hour, they were silent. Mostly. To distract them and to get more information, Tom asked them the details about the battle, specifically about the Espheni's weapon and the Queen and Hal. Ben answered the majority of those as Matt was fighting aliens on the other side of the building with Pope and his gang. Matt however did reveal that Pope was killed during the battle, along with Tector. Tom was downhearted to hear about Tector and a little about Pope, despite all the issues he had with the criminal. The man was a good fighter and had saved his life and helped Hal and Matt before.

After Matt informed him of that, Ben filled Tom in about what happened with Hal. He had known that Hal was able to control a Mech and a beamer, but he was shocked to learn that his eldest was able to control three beamers at once, then control two Mega-Mechs at once as well. Considering how exhausted Hal was from just controlling one of those, he had no idea how Hal was able to remain standing. And then to hear that he killed the Queen by summoning a bolt of lightning nearly rendered the parent speechless. Realizing that Hal did all of that along with using his telekinesis in such a short amount of time, it was no wonder he wasn't in good shape. He hoped though that it wasn't too much. That it wasn't enough to count as overdoing it like Anne warned them about.

After the hour had passed, Tom spotted his girlfriend coming into the area and looking around, most likely looking for them. He stood up and called out, "Anne."

"Are you alright?" Anne immediately asked as she came over to him, pulling him into a hug. She had nearly had a heart attack when she saw him completely out cold and even though she knew that he was going to be okay, she was still worried.

"I'm okay. How's Hal?" Tom asked as he pulled away from her so he could see her face. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ben, Matt, Lexi and Maggie stand up and come over to listen as well.

"He's in pretty bad shape." Anne answered with a regretful tone of voice but a stoic face which told Tom that she was doing her best to remain professional which was never good.

"He used his powers, a lot of them, for too long. His kidneys, liver and lungs are all badly burned and his temperature is dangerously high. We're still working on lowering it, but he's also in a coma." Tom felt his heart speed up and was about to ask if Hal would be okay and if he could see him but then Anne added, "There's more."

Tom wasn't sure if he wanted to know more. She had already made it clear that Hal was in a dangerous condition. He didn't know if he could handle knowing anything more, but he had too. He had to know if his son was going to be okay. So he stood as patiently as he could and waited for Anne to continue.

"Kadar was wrong, about the alien DNA being dormant." Of all the things that Tom excepted her to say, it wasn't that.

"What had happened, was when they put the Jomei DNA in Hal, there actually wasn't that much. So Hal's body, his immune system, didn't realize it was there. But, over the last several months, it's multiplied. Enough that his immune system is aware that it's there and is now attacking it." Anne explained.

"Then, why didn't it do anything when Hal used his powers?" Maggie asked, speaking for the first since Tom had joined them.

"I don't know. Maybe because he never used them long enough for his immune system to notice, maybe they DNA put up some sort of smoke screen, maybe the adrenaline hid it, I don't know. All I do know, is that now his body is fighting it." The doctor replied.

"What can we do?" Tom then questioned. There had to be something that they could do to help Hal, some kind surgery or treatment that would make Hal better.

"Tom, there isn't anything we can do." Anne told him. "Even if we did manage to find some way to get Hal's DNA and the alien DNA to truly bond together, his injuries are still so severe. Already, it looks like his organs are shutting down."

"You mean," Tom started but didn't finish, unable to force the words out.

"Tom, I don't think he's going to get better." Anne revealed, and Tom felt as though his entire world had been pulled out from under his feet.


	50. Desperate Times and Measures

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**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it! Hope you like this chapter too!

**To Hodophile-Sanhiller** – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked the last chapter and I hope enjoy this one as well!

**AN** – Hey! Updating a day early because I'm heading to my parents' cabin for a few days. Don't worry, I'll be back in time to upload again on Saturday. Hope you guys like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

Tom stared at his oldest son, who was lying in a coma on the hospital bed he was sitting beside. A breathing tube was in Hal's mouth going down into his throat, two IVs in his arm and an IV called a central line went down the hospital gown into Hal's chest. There was a machine beside the bed monitoring his heart-rate, making the annoying beeping noise. Tom had long since tuned it out though. It had been three days since the fight. Three days since Anne told him and the others that she didn't think Hal would recover. He refused to believe it and since then, had waited by Hal's side for any sign that he was going to be okay.

Weaver had come by every now and then, but not that often. With Tom refusing to leave Hal's side, he had taken over leading the 2nd Mass. The Queen may have been dead but there were still Espheni on the planet that needed to be taken care of. Cochise and the Volm were helping with that as well. He didn't think it would be long before the war was officially over. Ben, Matt, Lexi and Maggie were the ones who came by the most. They would stay for hours but every now and then, he and Anne would order them to go get some food and rest. Ben would also sometimes have to go help with the rebel skitters, but Deni mostly took care of that, knowing that Ben wanted to stay with Hal. Tom and Ben were both grateful for that.

Maggie was the most stubborn when it came to staying with Hal, besides Tom himself and he wasn't that surprised by that. She was in love with his son. Of course she would want to stay by his side. She was completely silent when she was in the room and whenever Tom looked over at her, he saw a strange look in her eyes. Worried, but almost, empty. It was very concerning to see. It reminded him a little of when Karen had told them Hal was dead. Hopefully they wouldn't have a repeat of that.

"How's he doing?" Anne inquired as she quietly entered the room. Looking around, she saw that only Tom was there. The others must have still been getting lunch, or were maybe taking her advice and getting some sleep. They'd probably be back soon though.

"No change yet." Tom reported, keeping his eyes on his son's unconscious form. Anne nodded in acknowledgement and made her way to the monitors Hal was hooked up to.

Anne wasn't shocked to hear that, but was disappointed. She knew that it was a bit unrealistic to think that Hal was improving due to how badly he was doing, but she had somewhat hoped that he would. Silently, she looked over the monitors. From what she could tell, they had picked up no change in Hal's condition. She wished they had the monitors to do brain scans and see how his brain was functioning, it would tell them more about his condition, but she had to make due with what they had. And what they had, didn't give them any good news.

Coming over to the father of her child, she put her hand on his shoulder and asked, "When did you last get some sleep?"

"I'm fine Anne." Tom insisted, still not looking at her.

"Did you at least eat?" Anne wondered. Over the last few days, it had been obvious that Tom had hardly been eating and she had been trying to fix that, but unless she wanted to force it down his throat, there wasn't anything she could really do.

"A little bit, yeah." He answered. Finally looking up at her with a hopeful expression, he asked, "Did you find anything?"

Regretfully, she shook her head and Tom turned his attention back to Hal. Very reluctantly, she said, "Tom, I'm really sorry, but I think it's time we take him off life support."

"No. Don't, don't say that." He immediately objected as he shoved her hand off his shoulder. "He's going to be okay. He's going to be fine."

Anne bit back a sigh. Flashbacks from months ago after Karen told them that Hal was dead came over her. Tom had denied his son's death so badly that she was worried he was becoming delusional. And now he was doing the same thing but this time, there wasn't any real hope. Not that she could see anyways. However, she knew that she wouldn't be to make him see that. Not yet.

"Try to get some rest." She told him, pressing a quick kiss on the top of his head. "I'll check in later."

Tom nodded, but didn't say anything. His focus was back on Hal, who hadn't so much as twitched while he and Anne talked. Despite that, he refused to believe his girlfriend about him not getting better. She didn't know Hal like he did. He was a fighter, and he'd keep fighting, even when he didn't really want to. It was in his blood. Hal wasn't going to die like this. Tom wouldn't believe it, he couldn't. He had to believe that his son would recover.

**2018TITANS2018**

After checking on Hal, Anne made her way to Kadar's workshop/office. The man, obsessed with work and not fond of being around others, was practically always there. He actually made it his home, having dragged a cot there. When she had ran the tests on Hal a few days before, using the little technology they had and the technology made by Kadar, she gave them to him so he could pull the results. It was from him that she had learned for sure that Hal most likely wasn't going recover. He had only given Hal a 5% chance of it. She then asked Kadar to see if he could think of any way that they could help the young man, but last she checked, he hadn't yet.

"Please tell me you found something." Anne said as she entered the room.

"Nope, sorry." Kadar replied. Lifting his head to look at her, he saw the expression on his face and said, "He's not getting any better?"

"No, he's getting worse." Anne responded, coming over to stand on the other side of the table where he was working.

"Unfortunately, that's not surprising. His body is rejecting the alien DNA, just like some people reject transplants." Kadar told her with a thoughtful expression.

"Maybe that's how we should treat this." Anne said, furrowing her eyebrows as she thought of it.

"You mean, medically bring down his immune system to try and get his body to accept the DNA?" Kadar questioned.

"No, we can't do that. He's too weak and too badly injured." Anne answered as she shook her head then said, "What if there was some way that we could force his body to accept it though?"

"And how would we do that?" Kadar wondered.

"We need to find a why to force Hal's own DNA to bond with the Jomei DNA."

"Again, how would we do that?" The scientist repeated his earlier question.

"Maybe we just need to show it that it's possible. Like, put human and alien DNA that had bonded into his system and see if they would do the same?" Anne suggested, then said, "That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"

"There are a lot of things that I have seen over the last few years that seemed ridiculous but ended up happening." He pointed out. "Now I don't know if that would work, but if that's our only option, you could try. There's no chance of Hal getting better on his own after all. You might as well give it a shot."

Anne opened her mouth to respond but Kadar continued, "In order to this, you would need Jomei DNA, which we don't have. The closest thing we have to that is Espheni DNA. There's no guarantee that would work. And to have that bonded with human DNA that's practically identical to Hal's, that's not going to be easy."

"Actually, we have two options." She realized. Seeing the confused look on his face, she added, "Lexi and Ben."

"Then you should go talk to them."

"Not just yet. I don't want to give them any false hope." Anne responded. Kadar nodded, understanding her reasoning. She then said, "I'm going to run a few more tests on Hal and see if there's a chance this would work."

Kadar nodded, understanding why she would want to do that and she was glad. The last thing that her boyfriend and their family needed was false hope. To think that there might be a chance that Hal would be alright only for them to learn that they were wrong would be devastating. While they already knew that Hal wouldn't recover naturally, at least they had time to process that. Giving them hope and taking that away would torture them. They couldn't do that. They'd been through enough as it was. Anne hoped whatever she found would work. They didn't deserve to lose another family member either.


	51. Alien or Human

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**To scienceficfan24 **– Thanks for your review! You're welcome, I hope you like this chapter!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! I hope you like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

The next day, Anne stood in the corner of the main room of the infirmary with Tom, Ben, Matt, Lexi and Maggie. After spending hours running tests, she found that though it was a very slight chance that using a sample of either Ben's or Lexi's DNA would help Hal recover, it was still a chance. Any chance there was, Tom needed to know to about it. He was Hal's father and as such, he was the one who would be making medical decisions on Hal's behalf. Since Ben and Lexi could be involved in this as well, she wanted them there so they knew what was going on as well. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have Matt and Maggie part of the conversation, but they were with Hal and Tom when she went to get Tom and thus, figured out something was going on and wanted to know what it was.

"Again, this is all just theory. There's a very good chance that it won't work." Anne informed them, not wanting to raise their hopes but she could see in their eyes that it was too late.

"But it could?" Tom asked eagerly.

"It might." Anne confirmed, stressing the last word. There was a chance, but it was slight and she didn't want to give them idea that would definitely work.

Tom lifted a hand and ran it over his face while the others stared, wondering what they were going to do. After a minute, the father asked, "Is there a chance he's going to get better on his own? If we do nothing?"

"At this point, no, there's not." Anne answered honestly, and watched the fear return to each one of them.

"Then we do it." Tom insisted. Seeing the reluctant look on his girlfriend's face, he insisted, "We have to. Even if it doesn't work, we have to try."

Anne wasn't surprised by Tom's answer. She knew the minute she brought it up that he would want to do it and she completely understood. Tom had lost his wife permanently, had lost each of his kids for a period of time before he found them again, Hal several times. Now he was about to lose Hal permanently as well if they didn't do something. Anne had lost her son too. She knew that pain and heartbreak. She didn't want Tom to go through it like she had to. Glancing over at Ben and Lexi, she could see that they completely agreed with their father.

"Okay." Anne agreed. Turning over to the middle Mason son and the only Mason daughter, she said, "Ben, Lexi, can you guys come with me?"

They immediately nodded and followed as she led them to a different room. Tom watched for a minute, then turned back to Matt and Maggie. His oldest son's girlfriend had a poker-faced expression but he was able to make out the fear and hope in her eyes. Just barely. Matt however, was a lot easier to read.

"This is going to work, right?" Matt asked, looking up at his Dad. Tom wished he could tell him that it would, but he didn't have the strength to lie. Even if he did, if Hal didn't recover and did end up dying, then not only would he have to deal with the pain of losing his child, he would have Matt furious at him for lying. So he just pulled his youngest into his arms and held him, keeping his mouth shut as he did so.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

It only took about five to ten minutes for Anne to take a blood sample from both Ben and Lexi. She then went to run some tests while the other two went back to wait with Tom, Matt and Maggie. They then were stuck waiting for another hour, each of them getting more and more impatient with each passing second.

"This is taking forever." Ben complained, trying to resist the urge to bang his head against the wall. Tom looked over at his son and was about to respond when he saw Anne making her way over to them.

"There she is." Tom told him and the others. Immediately they looked in her direction and stood up as she approached them.

"Well?" The Mason patriarch asked as soon as she was standing in front of them.

"The results show that Ben's human DNA is more of a match to Hal's than Lexi's which isn't surprising since they are full siblings while Hal and Lexi are half siblings. We already knew that would be the case. However, Lexi's Espheni DNA is a closer match to Hal's Jomei DNA." Anne filled them all in.

"So which one do we do?" Tom wondered. He had hoped that they were get a clearer result of which one they should use but it sounded like they both had an equal chance of failing.

For a minute, Anne stayed quiet, thinking it over. Ever since she came up with the theory, she had wondered which DNA would be the best to use. She had known that each would have problems, lowering the chance of it working even more. So they had to pick which one would have the best chance of working due to the problem that Hal had.

"I think we're going to go with Lexi. It's the alien DNA that's causing the problem and she is a hybrid, unlike Ben." Anne responded. They all looked a little nervous but nodded, understanding why she decided that.

"Okay, let's do this." Lexi said, willing to do whatever it took to save her older brother. Her mother gestured for her to follow her and she obediently did, inwardly praying that this was going to work.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After taking another sample from Lexi and giving it to Kadar to synthesis the DNA from it and mix it with a sample of Hal's, Anne got ready to give it to Hal. As far as they could tell, the two samples mixed just fine so it should be good to use. However, Anne was getting very nervous. Just because those two small samples worked together, didn't mean that it would work. Lourdes, the only other person in the room, double checked the machines and made sure that Hal was ready for this procedure.

"Here we go." Anne said, then injected the syringe into Hal's IV before she put it off to the side. For the next 60 seconds, she and Lourdes waited for something to happen.

"How long until we know if it works?" Lourdes wondered. Anne opened her mouth to answer, when the heart monitor sped up extremely.

"Apparently not long at all." Anne remarked as she rushed over to the machines to see what they were picking up while Lourdes rushed to Hal's side.

The monitors were going crazy. According to them, his oxygen levels were going down despite the fact that he had a tube down his throat forcing oxygen into his lungs. His pulse was racing along with his heart. She was positive that it was even worse than when they rescued him from Karen. Briefly she wondered if she should give him a sedative like she had that time, but quickly brushed that off. That wasn't going to work. Not this time.

"Anne!" Lourdes cried out as Hal started shaking uncontrollably. It was as though he was having a seizure.

The older doctor rushed over, and tried to hold Hal down, whispering, "Come on, Hal. Don't do this."


	52. The Bridge

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**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter as well!

**Enjoy!**

With all the pacing he had been doing, Tom was a little surprised he hadn't worn a hole in the floor. His shoes seemed to feel thinner though. There were times Ben also got up from his chair to pace alongside him for a few minutes before he'd sit back down. Matt and Lexi stayed seated but looked just as anxious as he and Ben were. Maggie, who was standing off to the side, leaning against the wall, had a guarded expression on her face, like she usually did when she didn't anyone to know what she was feeling. It didn't fool Tom though. After getting to know her over the last few years, he could tell when she was worried and right now, she definitely was. Two hours of that passed before Anne finally came out of Hal's room.

"Did it work?" Tom practically demanded as Anne reached him. The others also stood up and came over so they could hear.

"No. He reacted to it almost instantly." Anne revealed, then quickly added, "We were able to stabilize him again, but it was a near thing."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds as they processed what she said, then Tom asked, "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know." Anne answered honestly with a helpless tone.

"Maybe we just need to wait, and see what happens. Maybe it just needs some time to take effect." Lexi chimed in, trying to be hopeful in this depressing situation though she didn't think it worked.

"It's possible." Anne replied, but she didn't sound very hopeful at all, causing Tom to say, "But?"

"Considering his reaction, I don't think it will do anything." She informed him.

"Like it's not close enough of a match?" Lexi questioned, disappointment in her voice. Wordlessly, Anne nodded. Lexi felt like she was about to start crying. All hope inside of her started to disappear at the news that her DNA didn't work, that Hal could still die, but she swallowed it back. Crying wouldn't do any good. She could cry later.

"What if we try with mine?" Ben asked, not willing to give up just yet. Not when there was still something they could do to help his brother.

"I don't know Ben." Anne told him. "If he reacts like he did before,"

"We can't just do nothing!" Ben cut her off angrily. It sounded like she was just giving up and that wasn't acceptable. His Dad put a hand on his shoulder, clearly trying to calm him down but Ben could tell from the look on his face that he agreed with him.

Anne waited for him to calm down before she said, "I know, but for now, let's wait and see if something happens. If nothing does, then we can discuss it."

No one looked happy about it at all, but they nodded in agreement. Hopefully

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Hours later, Anne returned to Hal's room to check on her patient. She had been doing her best to check on him as often as she could, but he was not the only person in the infirmary, and she was the only real medical doctor the 2nd Mass had. Even though Lourdes had really come a long way. Like all the other times, Tom was sitting at his son's side, holding his hand in both of his. She was worried about him. Before, Tom had been insistent that Hal would recover. That they would find a way to help him and he would be okay. However, since that morning when she told him that the procedure with Lexi's DNA didn't work, he'd gone quiet. If Anne didn't know any better, she'd have thought he had given up.

"Hi." Anne said, closing the door behind her. Coming over to Tom, she asked, "Any change?"

"No." Tom answered, shaking his head, feeling the tears starting to come on. He had been holding it back for days as he waited by Hal's side, hardly sleeping and barely eating. He couldn't do it anymore.

"How are you doing?" She wondered, pulling a chair over so she could sit down beside him. When he stayed quiet, she put her hand on his shoulder and leaned forward to see the man's eyes filled with tears.

"I can't lose him Anne." Tom whispered as the first tear slipped down his cheek. "He's my son, my little boy."

Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him close as she murmured, "I know."

Unbeknownst to the two adults, Ben stood right behind the door of the room. He had been planning on coming to see how his big brother was doing, if the procedure was starting to work, but stopped when he heard the voices of his Dad and Anne inside. He could tell immediately that this was a private conversation and was going to leave, but then he heard what his Dad was saying. Ben knew that he shouldn't eavesdrop, however he couldn't really help it. His spikes had heightened his hearing greatly and they caught every word that was said, causing his heart to break at the pain in his father's voice and the sudden realization that Hal could really die. He then walked away without going inside.

It felt like someone had hit his chest with a hammer, forcing his ribs to collapse into his lungs. He couldn't breathe. The world around him was becoming blurry. Ben had to get out, had to get some air, before he collapsed. As soon as he was out of the building, he made his way to a secluded spot so no one could see him break down.

Ben couldn't remember the last time he had seen his Dad cry. He knew that there were times he had. Like when Ben's Mom died, when he thought Anne and Lexi were dead, and probably during the time they thought Hal was dead. And yet, Ben hadn't actually seen it. Now he had and he never wanted to see it again. His brother was dying and his Dad felt helpless to stop it. His big brother was dying.

"Ben?" Hearing Deni's voice, he tried to pull himself together. Wiping his face with his hands, trying to get rid of the tears, he looked up and saw her coming towards him.

"Hey." Ben murmured, lowering his head again.

Reaching him, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder and said, "I heard what's going on."

"He's dying Deni." He told her, lifting his head to look at her, exposing the tears that were welling up in his eyes. "He's dying, my Dad is breaking down, so are Matt and Lexi and Maggie and I,"

"Come here." Deni whispered before pulling him into his arms. Normally Ben wasn't that big on hugs, but he immediately returned the embrace, burying his face into her shoulder.

"I can't lose him. I can't lose my big brother Deni." He cried. Deni, unsure of what to say to that, didn't say anything at all. She simply held him tighter as he broke.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Ben felt a bit pathetic after crying in Deni's arms, but he did feel a little lighter Only a little though. The headache came minutes later and hadn't let up yet. He'd have to see if Anne had Tylenol or something. If he remembered that is. Once Anne learned what he was really coming to see her about, they'd be having a much different and a much more important discussion than simply wanting some painkillers for his headache.

"Anne." Ben called out the second he spotted her.

"Ben. What can I do for you?" Anne questioned with a smile as he came to stand in front of her.

"Is there any change in Hal?" He immediately asked.

The doctor dropped the smile, a sad and disappointed expression coming on her face as she said, "No, there isn't."

"So it didn't work." Ben quickly surmised.

"No, it didn't." She confirmed, starting to have a feeling as to where he was going with this.

"We need to try again," He told her, "with me."

"Ben," Anne started only for Ben to interrupt, "He reacted because Lexi's DNA wasn't a close enough match. Mine is."

"You're human DNA is, but,"

"Anne, please." Ben then begged, causing her to stop and really look at him. He was terrified and desperate, and why shouldn't he be? His brother was dying. After trying to help him with Lexi's DNA failed, she pretty much lost any faith that Hal was going to recover. She hated it but she had to be realistic. However, if there was any chance that there was something that they could do that might help, they had to.

"Okay."

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

After talking to Tom about trying again with Ben's DNA, which he quickly agreed with, they immediately got everything ready. Only an hour later, she was in Hal's room with Lourdes, prepped and ready to go. As she got ready to start though, she felt her hands start shaking. This was their last chance. If this didn't work, there was nothing left they could do. Hal was going to die.

"Here we go." Anne said after taking a breath to steady herself and injected the syringe into the IV line, just like she did with the serum that was made from Lexi's DNA. The second she was done, she put it on the tray and kept her attention on Hal. She expected him to start convulsing like he did before, but he didn't. Nothing happened.

Lourdes looked over at the monitors to see if there was any change, then turned back to Anne and said, "Nothing. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I don't know." Anne replied. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, wondering what they should do, then looked back at Hal and waited.


	53. Lights Will Guide You Home

**Disclaimer** – Own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked it and I hope you like this chapter as well!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! Trusting me is always a risky thing. Hope you like this chapter!

**AN** – Chapter title is a line from the song Fix You by Coldplay. Hope you all like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

_If light is in your heart, you will find your way home._ – **Rumi**

Hal felt like he was floating. He had no idea what was going on and couldn't really remember what happened or why he was here, or even where 'here' was but he didn't really care. He liked floating. Unfortunately, it didn't last. Much sooner than he wanted, he felt himself pulled down, like his body was a pile of bricks that had been thrown from a plane and were falling back to Earth.

As he fell, he started really feelings things again. He felt a thin mattress under him, something taped on his hand, but most of all, felt something in his throat. He tried to cough it out, but he couldn't and he started shaking in panic. Then, he heard a beeping noise that was speeding up and started to panic even more. A hand suddenly grabbed his, making it even worse until he finally realized his eyes were closed and he opened them.

"Hal?" It took a lot more effort than he thought it would, but slowly Hal managed to turn his head in the direction of the voice and saw his Dad sitting beside him, holding his hand.

"Easy, it's okay." His Dad told him, then turned to Anne who was asleep in the chair beside him and started shaking her shoulder. "Anne, wake up."

"What is it?" Anne asked as she opened her eyes. When she saw that Hal was awake, she shot up in her seat. "Oh my G*d!"

She immediately got up and walked around to Hal's other side, coming to stand by his head. She then started doing something that Hal couldn't see and it was making him a little nervous. And because of the tube in his mouth, he couldn't ask what it was. However, she soon looked over at him and said, "Okay. I'm going to take the tube out, but I need you to relax."

Hal nodded, though it was harder than he thought it would be. He was so tired. He also did his best to relax, but the thought of having something pulled out of his throat honestly freaked him out a little. Seeming to have realized that, his Dad suddenly leaned over him and placed his hand on Hal's head, trying to soothe him. It helped a bit.

"Alright, when I count to three, I want you to start coughing, okay?" Anne said when she noticed that he had relaxed somewhat. Again, he nodded but started tensing up again when Anne brought her hands up to the tube and started counting.

"One, two, three." Hal immediately started coughing like he was told. As he felt the tube sliding out of his throat though, it quickly turned to gagging. It was disgusting and it hurt a bit.

As soon as the tube was out, Hal kept gagging and had a hard time breathing. Tom helped him sit up so it would be easier, rubbing his back and whispering, "Easy, just breathe."

"Here." Anne said as she came back to Hal's side with a cup of water. Holding it to his lips, she told him, "Small sips."

The water helped soothe his throat, but he couldn't stomach that much of it. Not when he still had the urge to keep gagging. After he finished, he leaned back against his father's arm, who then lowered him back down to the mattress as he asked, "Better?"

Hal nodded, then mumbled, "Wh… h'pen?"

"You used your powers to kill the Espheni Queen, and to destroy the Mega-beamer. It took a big toll on you. But you're going to be okay." Anne replied, deciding to wait until he was stronger and more alert before giving him more details.

"O'ers?" He asked, his voice still weak.

"They're okay." Tom assured him, pushing Hal's hair back off his forehead.

"In fact, I think they are waiting outside." Anne said. "I should go let them know that you're okay. Don't do anything stupid."

Anne soon disappeared from Hal's sight followed by the sound of the door opening, but he didn't move his head at all. He didn't think he had the strength to. But he saw tears trickling down his Dad's cheeks, he managed to tilt his head in his direction a little and whispered, "Dad?"

When Tom lifted his head, Hal saw that there were even more tears in his Dad's eyes that hadn't fallen yet. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his Dad cry. Had he ever seen him cry? The sight was heartbreaking. If he had the strength, he would've sat up and hugged him. Though this might've been the only time he had seen his father like this, he never wanted to again, especially over him.

"You scared me." Tom finally said, barely holding back a sob.

"Sorry." Hal responded, doing his best to squeeze his Dad's hand. Before Tom could respond, the door opened again and Anne came in with Ben, Matt, Lexi and Maggie.

"Hal!" Matt shouted as he darted towards his oldest brother. Before he could throw himself on Hal though, Anne grabbed his arm to pull him back and said, "Easy Matt, easy."

Matt looked a little sheepish, but stayed close to Hal and their Dad. Ben, Lexi and Anne also came over to them while Maggie circled around to Hal's other side as she asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Tired." Hal responded, his voice beginning to get a little stronger.

"That's normal. You've been through a lot. You should go back to sleep." Anne told him.

"No, not yet." Hal replied, coughing a little as the words grated his throat. Tom again put a comforting hand on his oldest son's forehead while Anne grabbed the cup from before and brought it over to Hal.

"Here, drink some more water." She said. Due to how many people were there, Tom, being right beside his son, took the cup from her and moved his hand to help Hal lift his head so he could drink. After a few sips, Hal signaled enough and looked back at his siblings, seeing worried expressions on their faces.

"Hey." Hal said, trying to reach for Matt's hand, who quickly grabbed it. Once he did, Hal, feeling his exhaustion coming back, murmured, "I'm okay."

He then looked over at them and asked, "What all happened?"

"You passed out after the battle. Had a really high fever." Maggie informed him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"As soon as we got back, we did some scans and found that you used your powers for too long. Your organs were badly burned, to the point where they started shutting down. We also found out we were wrong, about your Jomei DNA. It wasn't dormant, it was that there wasn't that much there, but over time and with every occasion where you used your abilities, it multiplied. Once there was too much of it, your immune system realized it was there and started fighting it, making you even more sick than you already were." Anne did her best to explain, though she wasn't sure how much Hal was able to understand due to how exhausted he looked. She had been wanting to wait until later, but she had a feeling he wouldn't let himself rest until he got some answers.

"Then, how," Hal started, then stopped before he could finish. He had thought he was becoming more awake, but the energy he had gained at the sight of his siblings and Maggie had completely disappeared.

Anne gave him a smile and said, "I'll explain it more when you're feeling better. The important thing is, that you're going to be okay."

"Go back to sleep Hal. Someone will be here when you wake up." Tom told him. Hal nodded, barely, then closed his eyes. Within seconds, he was asleep.

Seeing that, Anne put her hands on her boyfriend's shoulders and said, "Okay, now you need to go to bed."

"Anne," Tom immediately began to argue, looking up at her. However, she quickly cut him off.

"Tom, you've barely slept at all since the fight. And you're still technically recovering from that. You need your rest just like Hal does."

"I'll stay with him Tom." Maggie chimed in before Tom could object. He looked like he really wanted to argue, but knowing he was beaten and that his son was in good hands, he let out a sigh and said, "Okay."

Not wanting the father of her daughter to get distracted and keep from getting the rest he desperately needed, Anne followed Tom out of the room, leaving the others to keep watch over Hal. While she knew that Lexi, Matt, Ben and Maggie hadn't been getting much sleep either since the battle, they had definitely gotten more than Tom. And she could always send them to bed later. Maybe after telling them to get some food though. They hadn't eaten as much as they should've over the last few days either. Neither had Tom.

Once they were outside of the infirmary building however, a distraction quickly found them.

"Tom." Turning around, Tom saw Weaver coming over to him. He and Anne waited until their friend reached them and when he did, Weaver asked, "How is he?"

"He's going to be okay." Tom answered with a smile.

Clapping a hand on Tom's shoulder, Weaver grinned and said, "That's great."

For a moment, Tom let out a breath of relief. Besides the tears he couldn't hold back only a few minutes ago, he hadn't fully let it sink in. Hal was okay. His son was going to be okay. He was alive. Somehow, despite the odds, Hal was recovering. He had no idea how this happened, but he was beyond grateful for it.

"How are things going out here?" Tom wondered, looking around the courtyard. He felt bad that he hadn't been helping out with taking care of the 2nd Mass. He didn't even know what was going on with the war or what was happening with the Volm, but this time, his son came first.

"Everything's good. I'll tell you more after you sleep." Weaver responded, seeing the obvious dark circles under Tom's eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm going." Tom said, throwing his arms up in a mock surrender. He then started walking towards the building where the bedroom he shared with Anne, while Anne continued standing beside Weaver.

"He's really going to be okay?" Weaver questioned once Tom was out of earshot.

"Miracle if there ever was one." Anne responded with a grin.

"I don't know about that. He had a great doctor, and he's a fighter. No way was he going down that easily." Weaver said, looking up at the night sky. Anne stared at him for a moment, then nodded and also looked up, for the first time in what felt like forever, feeling a sense of peace at the sight of the distant stars and planets above.


	54. Rebirth

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

**AN** – One more chapter left after this! Read the note at the end of this story for an important announcement. Hope you all like this chapter!

**Enjoy!**

_I survived because the fire inside of me burned brighter than the fire around me._ –**Joshua Graham**

Anne paused outside Hal's room when she heard the loud and cheerful voices coming from inside. It was such a change from the scared and worried silence that had filled room only a few days ago. While the news she had was good, she didn't really want to interrupt them. So she gave them a minute before she gave a quick knock and went inside to find Hal lying on the propped up bed with Maggie while Matt and Lexi sat by their feet and Ben sat in a chair on Hal's side.

"Hey Anne." Hal greeted with a smile when he saw her come into the room, causing everyone to look over at her.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" She asked, walking over to stand near the foot of his bed.

"I feel fine." Hal answered immediately with a reassuring smile. However, the second he was done speaking, Maggie added, "He still tires out quickly, but he is getting better."

"That's good." Anne said, impressed with his recovery. Hal on the other hand, glared slightly at Maggie for telling the doctor that. He clearly wanted to leave to the infirmary. She was well aware of his hatred of being there, but considering how serious he was injured, they had to play it safe.

"Did you find anything?" Ben asked, reminding Anne why she had come to see them in the first place.

"Actually, I think Kadar and I did." Anne responded. When she saw that she had everyone's attention, she explained, "It seems like the fluid from Ben's spikes, which ended up in the sample we took from Ben to give to you, helped heal your injuries. That's why you recovered and are still recovering at a faster rate."

"Does that mean I can leave the infirmary?" Hal questioned hopefully.

"Not yet, but sooner than you normally would." Anne replied. The young man let out an annoyed sigh but didn't argue like she thought he would. Instead, he asked, "What about the Jomei DNA?"

"We checked that too, and found something has changed."

At that, Hal tensed up and with a worried tone, said, "What?"

"It seems, that along with healing you, the spike fluid is actually helping your immune system destroy the Jomei DNA inside of you." Anne informed him.

"Meaning, it's gone?" Maggie questioned, trying to understand what had happened. Hal, Ben and Matt looked just as confused as she did.

"Not yet, but it probably won't take long for that to be the case." Anne responded.

"So, I'm going to be, normal, again?" Hal hesitantly asked.

"If you mean completely human, yes you will be." She confirmed. For a moment, Hal just stared at her like he had trouble believing that she was telling the truth, but then he looked down and a small smile appeared on his face.

"That means, that he's going to be okay, right?" Matt asked, a little confused by what Anne was saying and a little worried about his big brother as she wasn't outright saying that he would be alright.

Looking over at Matt, then back at the others, Anne said, "Can't say that with a 100% certainty, but I believe that yes, he will be just fine."

At that, everyone either smiled or laughed or both in relief.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

The next evening, Hal sat on the roof of the building where his and Maggie's room was, staring down at the other members of the 2nd Mass that were walking around the courtyard. Anne had released him that morning, but strongly implied that she wanted him to still stay in bed, which of course he didn't do. Well, he did for a while because he still tired easily and because Maggie was keeping an eye on him, but he eventually woke up to find that she was gone, most likely to get some food or something so he made his escape. He was sick of lying in bed. He needed something to do, and knowing that if he went outside he'd most likely run across his family and they'd make him go get some more rest, he made his way to the roof.

Being up high, out of sight while being able to see everyone else reminded him of when he had first found the 2nd Mass, back when they didn't know he was around. It had only been a few months since that had happened, but it felt like years ago. So much had changed since then. He still remembered how he felt back then though. He felt like he would never be able to back with his family. That even if the war was won, that he'd have to keep his distance from them in order to protect them as he couldn't control his powers and was terrified that he'd hurt them. He'd also been terrified that Karen would find him and take him back. It was like he was trapped in a dark tunnel and couldn't see any light around him. He had no idea what to do or where to go.

Now, all of that was gone. He felt like he wasn't in the tunnel anymore and was standing under direct sunlight. The war was over. It was actually over. His powers, that had practically taken over his life for almost an entire year, were gone. Karen was dead and while he still had mixed emotions about that, as he still felt the pain from the loss of the real Karen whom he had loved, he was glad because it meant that he, and his entire family, were safe. He was actually safe. It wasn't until now that he realized how much he actually believed that he wasn't going to make it to the end of the war.

While he tried to remain confident, and did his best to reassure his family and Maggie that he did believe that everything would be okay, he didn't fully think it would happen. The odds weren't good. They hadn't been good since the aliens first invaded. As much as everyone had been hoping, praying and saying that they would defeat the Espheni, they all knew deep down that they would most likely lose. Yet here they were. It almost didn't seem real, like a dream. And if it really was a dream, then Hal didn't ever want to wake up.

"What are you doing out here?" Hal turned his head to see Maggie climbing up onto the roof and coming over to him, a concerned look on her face.

"Nothing." He answered her, shrugging his shoulders as he did so.

As she sat down on the ledge beside him, she asked, "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm sick of resting." He told her, turning his head to look back down at the crowds on the ground that had no idea they were being watched.

For a minute, they stayed quiet. Despite that, and the fact that Hal wasn't looking at her, he could tell that Maggie was watching him. Probably with a worried expression. Anne had said that he was okay, but he knew that he had scared her and his siblings and Dad, having been told how close he had come to dying before Anne and Kadar figured out a way to save him. He'd probably be getting those looks for a while. Until they were all more than confident that he was indeed okay.

"What's going on?" Maggie wondered after the minute of silence passed, her worry for the man beside her growing. She didn't like it when he was silent like this.

"The war is over, my powers are gone, we survived." Hal said. Looking over at her, his eyes locking on hers, he continued, "It's peaceful, like everything is good in the world. It feels weird."

"Yeah. I never truly thought we'd actually get to this point." Maggie admitted. This time, she was the one who turned her head away to the people below. She then added, "Makes you wonder what comes next."

"Rebuild society, I guess." Hal said, again shrugging his shoulders which Maggie felt since they were sitting so close together that their shoulders were touching.

"It'll be very different. It'll take years to get back to where we were before the aliens, and even then, it won't be the same. Not ever. Not with the knowledge of real aliens out there, being allies with the Volm." She said, thinking over everything that had happened that would make their old way of life different.

"Yeah. Probably be a bit difficult, and have a lot of challenges." Hal responded. Then, he reached over to grab her hand, waited until she looked over at him, then he smiled and said, "I'm not worried though."

"No?" Maggie questioned, a small smirk coming upon her face.

"Well, not if I'm going through it with you." He responded, his smile lessening as though he was actually a little worried that she wouldn't be by his side.

Squeezing his hand tightly in hers, she looked up at him hopefully and asked, "As a team?"

"Yeah, as a team." He said, his smile widening again before leaned forward and kissed her, which she wholeheartedly returned.

**AN** – Okay, I'm going to tell you guys this now so you can process it before you read the epilogue. I think this is going to be my last Falling Skies story. I've really enjoyed writing for this fandom, truly, and I did have plans to write more, but I honestly no longer have any motivation or real desire to write them anymore. I'm so sorry. I've gotten into new fandoms and am actually trying to work on an original novel that really needs my attention. I will be finishing Missing Scenes, but that will be it. I hope you guys understand. See you all next time with the final chapter to this story.


	55. A New Light

**Disclaimer** – Still own nothing.

**To scienceficfan24** – Thanks for your review! Thank you so much for all the love and support you gave me and my stories! You have no idea how much they meant! Hopefully though I will see you soon when I get back to finishing Missing Scenes! And I hope you enjoy the last chapter of this story!

**To Hodophile-Sandhiller** – Thanks for your review! I'm so glad you liked this story and my others! Hope you like this chapter as well!

**AN** – And here's the last chapter of this story! I hope you all like it!

**Enjoy!**

Tom paced back and forth down the hall of the hospital. Ben, Matt, Lexi and little Will sat in the chairs against the wall, an abandoned game of Monopoly spread out on the floor in front of them.

It had been over three years since the Espheni Queen was killed. The war officially ended only a few months after that. The Overlords were all killed, the harnessed kids all de-harnessed and with help from the Volm, all of the skitters were transported back to their original planet Dorn. While they still had a long way to go, the humans that survived the war began to restart society. They now had hospitals, grocery stores and schools. Or at least, a few of the major cities did. There weren't that many people on the planet anymore because of the invasion and way, and those that were still alive took up residence in the cities where electricity had been restored. Of course there was still no internet or satellite or cable TV and they had to be careful when it came to medical supplies as they hadn't been able to start making more yet, but it was progress.

A lot of things had changed in those three years. Tom had married Anne and they had Will, who had just turned two. Ben and Deni started dating and recently became engaged. Matt was almost done school and had reunited with his friend Mira from the re-education camp he was held in back when they were all separated. Tom wouldn't be surprised if they started dating soon. In fact, he wondered why they hadn't already as it was obvious they had feelings for each other. As for Hal and Maggie, well, they were the reason they were all here.

Hal and Maggie got married not long after Tom and Anne did. The only thing everyone could say to that was 'it's about time'. Honestly Tom was surprised they took so long. He actually expected them to get hitched once Hal recovered from the attack against the Espheni Queen. Even though they did wait longer that he thought they would, it was still a happy day. And then, on Will's birthday, they revealed that Maggie was expecting a baby.

Six months later, here they were, waiting for Maggie to give birth. It had been several hours since they got the news that Maggie had gone into labour, but nothing happened yet. At first, they were all in the room with the parents-to-be, but as she got closer and closer to having the baby, they left to give them their privacy. Only Anne and Lourdes remained in the room with them. They then tried to distract themselves by playing Monopoly, but soon had to stop when Matt and Will fell asleep. Ben was still wide awake but Lexi seemed to be close to nodding off as well.

"How much longer is it going to be?" Lexi asked quietly so she wouldn't wake the toddler in her arms.

"Could still be a while yet." Ben answered, also keeping his voice low as Matt was sleeping with his head on his older brother's shoulder.

"Mom wasn't in labour this long with Will." Lexi recalled.

"Each woman and pregnancy is different Lexi. Not everyone is going to be the same." Tom informed her as he continued pacing. Despite knowing that, he was just as impatient as his daughter.

He still couldn't really believe that he was going to be a grandfather, even though he had months to get used to the idea. When Anne told him that she was pregnant with Will, he was stunned because he was starting to think he was getting too old to have any little kids. But that didn't mean he thought he was old enough to have grandchildren. Hal and Maggie though were old enough to start their own family and Tom was so happy for them. It would be a little weird though that his youngest child was only going to be two years older than his niece or nephew.

Tom was so proud of his eldest child. He, of course, was already proud of him, but having watched him become a man so much during the war was almost incredible as well as scary. He went from a fighter to soldier to practically a leader in their 'army'. And despite all the trauma he went through and all the distrust of the other solders, he got back into the fight and killed the Espheni Queen which started bringing the war to an end. Then he recovered, married the woman he loved and was having a baby. He wasn't the little boy that wanted to play sports every second of every day anymore. He was a man and Tom couldn't be prouder. He just wished that Rebecca was here to see it. She'd be so proud of him too.

Glancing back at his kids, he noticed Ben staring at the clock before looking down the hall. After a minute, Tom realized what he was waiting for besides the baby and he asked, "When's Deni getting here?"

"I don't know. She should've been getting back to our apartment 10 minutes ago. If she found the note I left, she should be here any minute." Ben answered. Tom nodded and only seconds later, Deni came running around the corner so fast that it looked like her glasses were going to fall off her face.

Skidding to a halt as she reached them, Deni asked, "Did it happen yet?"

"No, not yet." Ben replied, giving his fiancée a smile. Deni relaxed and let out a sigh of relief hearing that, then moved to sit down beside him. Tom continued his pacing but only for another minute or two because at that point, Anne showed up. Ben quickly shook Matt awake before he stood up with him and Deni. Lexi also stood up, but did so carefully so she wouldn't wake Will. He was always cranky after being woken up and she didn't want to deal with that right now.

As Anne reached them, Tom, barely containing his excitement, asked, "Well?"

The doctor gave them all a wide smile and said, "It's a girl."

The entire group burst into smiles and happy laughs. Hal had a daughter. They had a niece and he had a granddaughter. He was officially a grandfather.

"Can we see them?" Tom asked once the initial excitement died down a little.

"Not just yet. We're still getting everyone cleaned up." Anne explained and Tom nodded. After five kids, he knew the birthing process didn't end after the baby came out.

"I'll come get you all once everything's done. It won't be long now. I promise." She assured them, then headed back down the hall to the delivery room, leaving the others to wait for just a little bit longer.

**FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS**

Half an hour later, Anne led Tom, Ben, Deni, Matt, Lexi and Will into the hospital room. The first person Tom saw was Lourdes, who was standing near the door, but he quickly turned his attention to the hospital bed. Maggie, wearing a hospital gown, was lying on the bed under a thin blanket with a tiny bundle in her arms. Hal was also on the bed right beside her. One of his arms was around Maggie's shoulders and the other he held up to help cradle his newborn daughter though it wasn't really needed. Hearing them come in, both Hal and Maggie looked over at them and smiled.

"Hey guys." Hal whispered as his family came closer to the bed.

"Hey. How are you feeling Maggie?" Tom asked, keeping his voice quiet so not to wake up the precious infant.

"Sore, but happy. Really happy." Maggie answered. She looked over at her daughter for a few seconds, then back at Tom and asked, "Do you want to hold her?"

"I'd love to." Tom said, his smile somehow widening even more than it already was. Hal shifted a little to allow Maggie to hand the baby to his Dad. Eagerly, he took the baby and looked her over closely. Only her face and the top of her head was visible, the rest of her tiny body wrapped tightly in the blanket. Her skin was soft and pink, and her head was covered in blonde hair. Her eyes were closed so Tom couldn't see them but he knew they'd be the bluish colour like all newborns for a few weeks before the permanent colour showed up. She was so beautiful.

The others circled around him to get a good look at the new member of the family. As everyone fawned over here, Will, still being held by Lexi but was now awake, pointed at the infant and said, "Baby."

Laughing, Tom replied, "Yeah Will. This is your baby niece."

"Does she have a name?" Matt asked, looking over at his brother and sister-in-law.

Hal and Maggie exchanged glances, then turned their gaze back to their family as the new father said, "We decided to call her Rebecca."

"Rebecca Anne Mason, after two great women." Maggie added.

Tom felt his eyes fill with tears upon hearing that. He glanced over at Anne and saw her own eyes wet and hand covering her mouth. This must've been the first time she heard the name chosen. Looking back at his granddaughter, he found her blue eyes were now open and she was staring up at him. Smiling, he said, "Hi Rebecca. Welcome to the family."

**AN** \- And that is the end of this story! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and/or favourited this story and my other Falling Skies stories! Bye everyone! *cue tears and hugs*.


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